Lone Rider
by DeanWinchesterFan1985
Summary: When legends of the headless horseman spring up, Sam and Dean check into a dude ranch to investigate. But will they be able to stop the horseman or will the horseman see them as his next victims? Protective/Sam Hurt/Dean
1. Chapter 1

Lone Rider

Chapter 1

Tish laughed with exhilaration as her horse galloped down the moonlit trail, her long dark hair flowing like a curtain behind her. She never felt as free as she did when she was on horseback. When she was on Buck she was free. She could almost feel the muscles in her legs that had been dead since the accident, she could forget about the restraining wheelchair that she was confined to for most of the day, or the awkward sideways stares that she tried to avoid when she went out in public. It made her angry that she was an object of curiosity and pity now and she would always meet those stares with furious glares of her own. That would usually make the color rise in peoples' cheeks and they would turn away embarrassed.

But Buck didn't look at her any different. He didn't stare at her useless legs and then look at her with pity. He looked at her just the same as he did everyone else. When Tish had started therapeutic riding she hadn't been thrilled at the idea, but she had quickly fallen in love with it, and with Buck.

The old stable horse had been her best friend for almost a year now, and Tish was finally starting to feel like her old self again. At least she was until this afternoon. She'd had a rough day at home and ignoring her stepfather's angry warnings she'd left. She'd made her way to her friend Rebecca's house and had persuaded her to bring her to the stable. Once Rebecca had dropped her off Tish had headed straight for Buck. She needed a break from reality and he was her ticket to freedom.

The stable property where Tish rode was large, and several trails branched off the main path, one leading to a small creek, another to the pasture, and the last to the road. Tish pulled back on the reins and Buck obediently slowed, dropping his head forward and blowing nosily out through his nose as he fought to catch his breath. His sides heaved underneath Tish's numb legs, but Tish could see the movement from her peripheral vision as she scanned the dark trails, trying to decide which one to follow.

Buck snorted loudly and shook his head, bits of foam flew from his mouth and landed on the dark ground, illuminated only for a second by the moonlight before being absorbed by the earth.

"Need a drink, Buck?" Tish asked patting the horse's sweaty neck. She turned him towards the right, gently tapping his hind quarters with her riding crop and clicking with her tongue. Buck turned obediently and picked up into a collected trot, his gate bumping Tish gently up and down in the saddle.

Tish could see the reflected moon in the creek's surface as they approached and she pulled Buck up into a walk. The gentle thud of hooves on dirt and the trickle of the water were the only sounds. Tish thought that was a bit strange because she knew there were plenty of nocturnal creatures that wandered around here, but there were no signs of them.

Buck seemed to notice this too. His ears swiveled on his head and he approached the brook cautiously, lowering his head down to the water he took a few quick swallows of the icy water. He shifted his weight uneasily and straightened up after a couple seconds, his head snapping towards the south, his ears up and alert.

"Come on, Buck, let's go." Tish said pulling on the reins. Buck ignored her. Tish frowned and tugged a little hard on the reins, Buck usually was never difficult and he always did as she wanted. "Buck, come on."

Clucking her tongue she tapped him smartly with her crop and this time Buck obeyed. He turned his head away from the dark and stepped into the shallow creek. Tish grabbed the special hand holds on the saddle, something she hadn't had to use in a long time, but in the dark and with Buck's strange movements as he made his way across the creek, carefully placing each foot down it made Tish's balance waver.

Bits of spray splashed Tish's arms as they hit the deepest part of the creek, giving her goosebumps and making the hairs on her arms stand on end. She shivered and urged Buck on, her eyes roaming restlessly on the surrounding trees. She found it strange, and perhaps it was just her imagination but she could've sworn that she heard the sound of extra hooves on the trail in front of her.

Buck stopped and he raised his head wearily, one ear swiveling back toward her slightly the other perked forward. Tish listened too, holding her breath and trying to ignore the feeling of her heart beating against her ribs. She could hear it distinctly now. She wasn't imagining it.

The sound of galloping hooves was coming right at her. Tish froze, her cold hands feeling frozen to the special hand holds on her saddle. Buck didn't wait for her command. In a quick simple movement he had turned around, kicking up a spray of water and had made a short leap onto the bank from which they had just come. He took off at a mad gallop heading straight back for the stable. His heavy breathing was interrupted by occasional snorts as Tish tried to avoid getting hit in the face with low hanging branches.

She could still hear the other horse behind them, and to her horror she realized that the other horse was faster. She knew that Buck was well beyond his best years but she urged him on, she leaned forward in the saddle, keeping her head close to his neck and tapped him sharply with her riding crop again.

Buck seemed eager to comply, he pushed himself faster, his feet flying over the ground in his frenzied pace. Tish almost felt like she was flying, but it wasn't the same freedom that she'd felt a mere half hour before. Now she felt as though she were stuck in super thick glue that was drying all around them. Every time Buck's hooves left the ground it seemed as though it were in slow motion, for she could still hear the other horse gaining on them.

Terrified she turned back to see if she could see who was following them. A pair of blood red eyes greeted her and the hot breath of the other rider's mount hit her face. She hadn't realized that they were so close, and surprised she lost her balance. She toppled off the saddle and hit the ground with a heavy thud. Buck whinnied but kept running his tail held high and his reins dangling loosely around his neck as he hurried back to the stable.

The other rider stopped, his horse snorted angrily and turned shaking his head and chomping at the bit. Tish couldn't see the rider very well in the darkness, the moon was hidden, the canopy of the trees were too thick to see anything besides the occasional shadow and the odd fiery eyes of the other rider's horse.

Desperate she grabbed at some of the nearby shrubs and pulled herself backwards hoping to drag herself away from whoever this was. She was sure that it wasn't anyone she knew and the strange tingle she felt in her stomach made her think that whoever he was, he wasn't there to help her.

Her limp legs dragged along the ground digging up small ruts as she dragged them behind her. She heard the heavy boots hit the dirt as the other rider got off his horse and then the soft footfalls as he approached her. His steps didn't falter, as if he knew exactly where she was.

"Please," Tish begged as she pulled herself forward another couple of inches. "Please, don't hurt please." She sobbed desperately and looked over her shoulder, her face peering up at the dark shadowed person behind her.

She could tell from the build that it was a man and from his position he seemed to be considering her, as if he found her position odd. One arm was lax at his side but the other was rigid as if he held something in his hand.

Fear froze her to the spot. "No, please don't hurt me."

The man straightened and his arms relaxed into a slightly slumped position. He turned his back on her and took a couple of steps away. Tish took a quick breath of relief and then her eyes widened in horror as the man turned back and swung his arm around right at her head.

"So tell me what the deal is again with this stupid dude ranch?" Dean asked through clenched teeth as he rounded a sharp turn in the road, the Impala screeched loudly as it fought to keep its hold on the road. Sam frowned at him from the passenger seat for a minute before returning his attention back to the paper and to the obituary that he'd circled earlier that morning.

He'd gotten a call from Bobby the night before and had been told to look up the obituaries in Colorado. Sam hadn't seen anything too unusual at first, but then he'd come across one obituary that had seemed a little strange. Tish Gardner, 21, had died four days ago not far from her riding stable, which also qualified as a dude ranch. That wasn't what had caught Sam's eye though, it was the closed casket and that the family wasn't planning on holding a viewing that had peaked his interest.

He'd stayed up late looking into newspaper articles, police and coroner reports. At first it just seemed like a riding accident. Tish had gone out on the trails after dark without telling anyone and they discovered her horse in the morning, still wearing its saddle and looking completely worn out. But when anyone had tried to approach him to get the saddle off the horse had spooked and trotted away, refusing to let anyone touch it. They'd sent a search party out to look for Tish and had discovered her body by the creek that ran through the middle of the property.

There didn't seem to be any supernatural indicators but as Sam had moved on to the police reports he wasn't so sure. He guessed that the media was being forced to keep quiet about the severity of Tish's death. According to the police reports Tish's body had been found halfway submerged in the creek and her blood had been flowing steadily with the clear water. Her head had been removed but they had not been able to find it. The coroner's report determined that Tish's head had been cut off by a sharp weapon, probably a sword from the looks of it.

So after a few quick calls Sam had woken Dean up and had them packed up and on the road within ten minutes. Dean was grumpy from being woken up so early and without his usual cup of caffeine he wasn't in an agreeable mood.

"Tish Gardner was found decapitated, her body by the creek and her head missing. That doesn't seem odd to you?" Sam asked for the third time. Dean had been even less pleased than usual when Sam told him that he'd made reservations for them on the dude ranch itself. It gave them better access to the property as well as the locals who would know the properties backgrounds as well as old legends.

Dean clenched his teeth and wrapped his fingers a little tighter around the steering wheel. "So what are you thinkin'?"

Sam frowned again. He'd tried to find anything strange in the police reports but there hadn't been any sign of anyone else. There had only been a single set of hoof prints and a couple of ruts that led from a patch of trees to the creek, as though Tish had dragged herself to the river and then had been beheaded there. But there weren't any other prints, human or horse that would indicate that someone had done it to Tish. The police were baffled.

"Vengeful ghost maybe?" Sam suggested as he pulled his laptop from its leather satchel and booted it up. There might be something useful he could find on the internet about Tish's death. If it was a ghost they worked in patterns and the ghost would have died in a similar way to how Tish died.

"Seems kind of familiar." Dean muttered as he reached for the box of cassette tapes and picked one out at random. He didn't even glance at the title before pushing it into the cassette deck.

"What do you mean?" Sam asked, halting his internet search to look inquisitively at his brother.

Dean shrugged, "It's nothing - just kind of reminds me of that Johnny Depp movie."

Sam's eyebrows narrowed and a few lines creased his forehead. "Sleepy Hollow?" He asked slightly bewildered.

"Yeah that's the one. Where the headless horseman goes around chopping off heads and storing them in that tree."

Sam turned back to his computer and began a new search. "Well according to legends the horseman was one of the 548 Hessians killed in a battle for Chatterton Hill, and his head was severed by an American cannonball."

"Yeah but in the movie they cut his head off with his own sword," Dean cut in.

"Dude, reality check - they don't make movies like that based on historical fact."

Dean frowned.

"Besides," Sam continued, "the headless horseman doesn't exist. He was a character created by Washington Irving for "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow". It's a classic story, Dean, but its just an old wives tale. Most versions of it are actually focused on Ichabod Crane and Brom Bones who just pretended to be the horseman to scare Ichabod out of town so he could marry the local beauty."

"So what do you think this is then?" Dean asked sharply shooting Sam a short sideways glance.

Sam ran his fingers through his tussled hair and sighed. "I really don't know, Dean. This just doesn't make any sense." His fingers ran over the keyboard on his computer and he frowned at the screen for a few minutes in silence. "As far as I can see the property doesn't have any bloody background, the owners of the ranch have had it in their family for generations, just passing it on father to son and there haven't been any family arguments over that either. Its not an Indian burial ground either. It just doesn't make sense, why there? And why the beheading?"

Dean shrugged. "Guess we'll have to ask around when we get there. How far are we from this place anyway?"

Sam picked up the folded map he'd tossed onto the seat that morning. "Let's see we're about fifty miles out." He said as he ran his finger along the line he'd penciled in. "We should be there within an hour."

"Goodie." Dean muttered under his breath.

"Dean, you know we have to do something about this." Sam said quietly.

"Yeah, yeah...just don't see why we couldn't stay at a motel like usual. Why we have to actually stay at the stupid ranch itself." Dean grumbled.

"Because we'll have better access to the property and we won't have to sneak in to look around. If we are guests we'll be able to look around without looking suspicious."

Dean rolled his eyes but said nothing. He focused on the black asphalt in front of them and let the words of the music flow over him, tapping his fingers in time with the beat.

_But your thoughts will still be wanderin',__  
__The way they always do__  
__And you don't feel much like ridin', __  
__You just wish the trip was through_

_Here I am, on the road again,__  
__There I am, up on the stage__  
__There I go, playin' star again,__  
__There I go, turn the page._

"You sure this is the right road?" Dean asked almost an hour later as the Impala's front right tire hit another dip in the very uneven bumpy dirt road, jostling her passengers almost to the point of violence. Her engine growled loudly almost as if she were angry at them. Dean's fingers were white on the wheel and his jaw clenched.

"Should be just around the next bend." Sam said as he gripped the edge of his seat trying to stop himself from hitting the ceiling with the violent bumps and dips that made him bounce in his seat every time they hit one.

Dean eased on the break as the road sharply turned, but he could still feel the tires skid and slide on the loose dirt and rocks. Even with as much experience as he had driving in all kinds of conditions he was having a hard time keeping the Impala on the road. "Sam, when this is over you will owe me detail duty. My baby's gonna have dust in her gears she's kickin' up so much of it."

"Let's just focus on taking care of the hunt, Dean, then we can argue about cleaning up the Impala."

"Is that it?" Dean asked with a nod of his head towards the large house that was just visible over the top of the hill.

"Yep, that's it." Sam assured.

Dean stepped on the gas and the Impala growled loudly, kicking up rooster tails and rocks as she fought to climb her way over the hill. A vein appeared on Dean's forehead and the muscles bulged in his jaw. "Outta make a decent road to get out here." He grumbled to himself. He patted the Impala's dashboard nervously as she started to skid and her back end began to swing around. "Come on, baby, come on."

With a few expert movements Dean straightened out the Impala and got her to the top of the hill. Both brothers breathed in relief as the Impala's rear tires breached the top of the hill and they saw the Canyon Drive Ranch sign posted in the middle of an iron arch that was surrounded on either side by white fences. The brothers drove under the arch and headed up the drive towards the large house.

There were several designated spots for ranch guests' cars, and only one of them was taken. Dean pulled in beside the beat up old Chevy truck and killed the engine. He squinted out of the windshield at the white stable where a few horses could be seen. A couple of people on horseback were just exiting the stable laughing as they trotted off towards one of the trails.

Sam pushed open his door and went around to the trunk and waited for Dean to join him so they could get their bags.

Dean groaned as he pushed open his door and the semi-sweet smell of sweat, leather, hay and manure hit him. He wrinkled his nose as he started for the back of the car and slowly opened the trunk. Sam reached in and pulled out his duffel, slinging it over his shoulder and starting for the main house. Dean reluctantly copied him, watching where he stepped so as to avoid any piles some of the horses might have left behind.

He caught up with Sam at the front door. Sam was looking uncertainly at the knocker. "Do we knock?"

Dean shrugged.

Sam grabbed hold of the brass knocker and banged it a few times against the heavy oak door. Dean shifted his weight uncomfortably beside him as they waited for the door to be opened.

There was no answer.

The brothers looked at each other at the same time, then Sam grabbed a hold of the knocker and rapped it sharply against the door again.

"You boys Sam and Dean?" A friendly feminine voice from behind them asked. Both brothers turned.

The woman who had spoken to them was tall and lean, her jeans dusty and slightly torn at the knee. They hugged her legs nicely and curved delicately at her hips. She wore a light blue button up flannel shirt and a tan cowboy hat that hid her face in shadow. She had gloves tucked into her right pocket and a rope coiled and tied at her waist. Her long dark brown hair was tied back in a tight braid that had fallen over her right shoulder. She smiled at them, her expression friendly.

"Yeah, that's us," Sam finally answered.

"I'm Jean. My husband and I run the ranch." Jean stepped up to the front steps so that she was out of the sun.

"I'm Sam," Sam greeted her with a warm smile of his own. "And this is my brother Dean" He gestured to Dean who nodded once at her.

Jean flipped her hair over her shoulder and leaned against the side of the house, crossing her legs at the ankles. "You boys like horses?"

Dean opened his mouth but Sam beat him to it. "Yeah, my brother here loves them." He elbowed Dean in the ribs. Dean shot his brother a quick dirty look but then forced a smile on his face.

"That's right always have." He said as lightly as he could from between his clenched teeth.

"You boys ever ridden before?" Jean asked eying Dean speculatively.

The brothers both shook their heads.

"That's ok," Jean said brightly as she pulled her gloves out of her pocket and slapped them lightly against the palm of her left hand. "We have several beginners that come here and lots of easy horses. Why don't I show you boys to your cabin and then I can introduce you to your horses?"

"Sounds great." Sam said brightly.

"Yeah great." Dean grumbled under his breath. Sam elbowed him again.

The brothers followed Jean around the house to where six moderate size cabins were built, each had a number over the door. They were old fashioned wood cabins with flower beds running along the length of each porch. Several tulips and daisies of multiple colors swayed in the light breeze. There was a water trough on the side of each cabin along with a pump and each cabin had a couple of small windows facing the front and one on each side.

"You boys will be staying in cabin three." Jean said as she lead the way to their cabin. "We serve breakfast at six and dinner at seven. We will pack a lunch for you if you want to take it on the trail but we also serve lunch at noon if you'd prefer to stay here at the ranch. I'll give you a tour of the main ranch house later but I've got a couple of new colts that need some work done this afternoon. We have a cattle drive at the end of the week if you boys are interested in going on that, and my husband and my boys do a little mini rodeo on Friday if you boys would like to come see that." She handed them both a key to the cabin. "Why don't you boys go ahead and put your things inside then meet me at the stable in five minutes?"

Sam and Dean nodded and headed up the steps of their designated cabin.

"I'm not gonna ride some flea bitten old nag, Sam." Dean snapped as he slid the key into the lock and let himself in.

"Dean it's the fastest way to get around the trails. You can't take the Impala the trails aren't wide enough - it's either ride or walk."

"I'll walk."

Sam huffed out an impatient breath. "What are you afraid of?"

Dean merely shook his head as he looked around the cabin. There was a small green and black love seat and a small TV in the living room. Along with a book case that had a few books, and even from here Dean could tell that they were about horses. The living room branched off into a small hallway that lead to the bedroom and bathroom.

Dean had to admit, even begrudgingly, that this place was much nicer than the places they usually stayed. The comforters were a dark navy blue with a few pale blue stripes running across it horizontally. Each queen size bed had four pillows on it and an extra blanket was folded at the foot of each. There were two dressers and a full length sized mirror in the corner of the room. Dean dumped his duffel onto the bed closest to the door and yanked opened the zipper. He began to rummage around inside ignoring Sam as he placed his own duffel down on his bed and sat down beside it.

"There it is," Dean said grinning in triumph and pulling out his .45. He slipped it into the waistband of his jeans and tugged his shirt down a little more to hide the bump.

"You're not gonna need that, Dean." Sam said watching bemused as Dean continued to search through his duffel.

"Says you," Dean snapped back not bothering to look at his brother. He pulled out his bowie and slipped it under his pillow.

Sam stifled a laugh and headed for the bathroom. He took care of his business quickly and splashed cold water onto his face. Dean was waiting for his turn when Sam opened the door. So Sam let his brother brush past him and headed for the living room to wait.

Jean was waiting for them by the large stable doors. She smiled at them as they approached. "Hey guys, you ready to meet your horses?"

Sam smiled back but Dean didn't seem all that eager to answer that question. He stood slightly back from his brother his eyes roaming the dark confines of the stable wearily.

Jean waved them forward and stepped into the shadowed stable. The brothers followed her, Dean a little reluctantly.

"Here at Canyon Road Ranch we have one rule that we enforce on our guests and that is that the horse you use here is your responsibility during your stay. We'll take care of the feeding and watering, and we'll be happy to assist you if you need it but we prefer that our guests take care of their own horses. It creates a stronger bond between horse and rider. So your responsibilities for your horse while you are here will be to groom, muck and exercise your horse."

"Muck?" Sam asked.

"She means shovel their..." Dean started but Jean interrupted him.

"We ask that you clean their stalls at least once a day." Jean explained as she started down one of the aisles. Several curious horses poked their heads out of their stalls and whuffled softly as Jean passed them. She patted some of their noses affectionately.

She stopped at the end of the aisle. "Dean," Jean said looking at Dean and Dean took a step back wearily. "We are gonna put you on Ranger." Jean said brightly as she slid open the lock and pushed open the stall door. Dean hesitated but Sam poked him in the back making take a couple of steps forward.

Jean slid the harness over horse's nose and did up the buckle behind the horse's ears. She stroked his neck affectionately as she clip on the lead rope and lead Ranger out of the stall. Dean stared up at the large animal and it stared back at him, looking quite bored. The animal was black with small black polka dots all over its body. It blinked wearily then lifted its head and yawned widely revealing large yellow teeth.

"Now the first thing to remember, Dean, is your horse is your friend. When you lead him stay to his left and always walk by his head. That way he can see you." Jean directed handing Dean the lead. Sam almost laughed, for a moment he could've sworn that Dean's face had gone so pale it was transparent.

"Sam," Jean continued after she cast a worried look at Dean. "We're gonna put you on Ebony. She works well with Ranger and she's is excellent for beginners." Jean opened a second stall and stepped in, a moment later she lead a jet black horse out and handed the lead to Sam. Sam took the rope easily and stroked the mare's neck.

"Ok," Jean said clapping her hands and smiling brightly at both of them. "Lets get these horses brushed and saddled and get you boys on them."

Dean gulped audibly but Sam grinned. "Sure, Jean, sounds great."

"This way to the cross ties." Jean said as she lead them back down the aisle.

Sam started to walk with Ebony walking easily beside him. Dean followed, cursing vehemently under his breath.

"I do what?" Dean asked again for the third time as he looked at the saddle uneasily from where he stood on the mounting block. Ranger stood patiently next to it, his eyes closed lazily as Jean rubbed his forehead and played with his forelock.

"Grab a hold of Ranger's reins and hold them tight at his neck," Jean instructed patiently. She had a hold of the reins by Ranger's mouth just in case but it was best to teach a rider how to mount safely right from the start. Dean grabbed a hold of Ranger's reins, curling them into his fist and held them tight at the base of Ranger's neck. Ranger tossed his head. "Not so tight - there that's better. Good. Now place your left foot into the stirrup." Dean hesitated then placed his foot in the stirrup, his hands slackening on the reins a little. "Keep a tight hold on your reins, Dean, that way Ranger won't move out from under you - that's right."

Sam chuckled a little. He was already sitting on Ebony, the reins held loosely in his hands.

"Now swing your right leg over his back and sit in the saddle." Jean instructed.

Dean hesitated.

"You can grab a hold of the saddle horn if you need to." Jean encouraged with a smile.

Dean grabbed the saddle horn, they'd been instructed on parts of the saddle already. Not that Dean remembered every part but he remembered Jean telling him to grab onto the horn if he really had to to catch his balance. So grabbing hold of the saddle horn Dean bounced twice, used the foot that he already had in the stirrup for leverage and heaved himself onto Ranger's back.

Ranger blew heavily out through his nose. Jean smiled up at Dean. "Very good, Dean. Now find your other stirrup there - that's right, good. Now you ready to walk?"

Dean grimaced. He didn't feel comfortable up here on this animal. He could feel every breath the animal took as with each inhale and exhale his legs would move with the horse's sides. He also found the saddle very uncomfortable.

"To make him walk, Dean, squeeze him gently with your legs and cluck with your tongue." Jean instructed from where she stood. She released Ranger's reins and took a few steps away. "Your reins," she continued "are what you use to direct him. If you want to go left turn the reins to the left if you want to go right turn the reins to the right. If you want to stop pull back. Ok?"

Dean nodded. It seemed simple enough. Sam clucked his tongue and squeezed Ebony's sides she immediately started up in a slow walk, Sam swayed slightly in the saddle with her motion. Dean forced his fists to loosen slightly and bit his lip.

"Here," Jean said quietly from his side as she touched his leg. "Let me show you how to hold those properly. If you hold them too tense the horse will be able to pick up on that and it will make him tense too. Just relax, Dean."

Dean tried.

"Pretend you are holding two ice cream cones." Jean instructed as she manipulated Dean's hands so they were in the right position. "There you go. Now go ahead and give him a squeeze."

Dean squeezed his legs tight around Ranger's sides and clucked with his tongue. Ranger immediately began to walk. His gate just as slow and rhythmic as Ebony's had seemed to be. Dean's body slowly swayed from side to side with the rhythm. He followed his brother around the indoor ring, experimenting with turning Ranger first one way then another. Ranger always responded to the lightest of commands. He seemed willing to listen to him. Dean relaxed a little.

"Very good, Dean." Jean said encouragingly. She was siting on the guardrail watching them ride. "Keep your heels down. That's it - great job. Excellent, Sam, you've got a really good seat."

Dean looked at his brother, and to his surprise Sam looked very comfortable. As if he'd been riding horses all his life. Dean had a sneaking suspicion that Sam had done this before. He ground his teeth together.

"Ok," Jean finally said after a few more times around the ring. "Do you boys want to try going faster?"

Dean paled but Sam grinned.

"How fast do these things go?" Dean asked.

"A good race horse can get up to forty miles an hour." Jean said with a large smile. "I don't think you'll be going that fast anytime soon though, Dean. You're just learning." She hadn't missed the way the color had rapidly drained from Dean's face. "A trot is the next gate and it is a little bouncy. So I want you sit deep in your saddles, hold onto the horn if you have to, gather up your reins, squeeze with your legs and say trot."

Dean gathered up his reins, squeezed with his legs, sat deep in the saddle and closed his eyes. "Trot."

"You sure you're ok?" Sam asked as he watched his brother hobble towards the bathroom. Dean's entire left side was covered in dirt. After Jean had told them to trot Sam had picked up the gate easily bouncing slightly up and down in the saddle with Ebony's gate. He'd only gone halfway around the ring when he'd heard a sickening thud, Dean's grunt of pain and then Ranger's skiddish hooves as the horse had shied away from his brother.

Sam had pulled up and quickly dismounted his own horse, running to his brother's side. Dean had landed on his side and had had the air knocked out of him. But he didn't seem to be badly hurt. Jean had grabbed both horses' reins and had led them back over to the brothers. Dean caught his breath and sat up, staring at the spotted horse incredulously.

"It'd be better if you kept your eyes open next time, Dean." Jean had said gently as she handed him the reins. She made him get right back on Ranger but had only made him walk around the ring four more times before telling them to go ahead and dismount and take their horses back to the cross ties so they could groom them.

"I'm fine, Sam." Dean snapped as slammed entered the bathroom and slammed the door behind him.

Sam sighed and sat down on the loveseat. He knew Dean's ego was probably bruised worse than his side was but that still didn't repress his worry. Dean hadn't been able to hide the wince when he'd dismounted Ranger when their ride was finished, and Sam hadn't missed the way Dean's hand had gone to his side. But as always Dean had shrugged off Sam's help, had groomed his horse as he had been shown and then had limped off toward the cabin. Sam made a mental note to clean Ranger's stall for Dean tomorrow if Dean was still so sore.

Sam had been riding a couple of times with Jess. He wasn't an expert at it, but he had a better sense of it than Dean did.

Sam tried to press his legs together, feeling the ache in his muscles as they protested. Sam had forgotten how many muscles one used when horseback riding, especially the muscles that one wasn't usually aware of until they were sore. He knew he'd be stiff for the next week. But it wasn't particularly painful, just awkward. Dean, always being a little bow-legged, was even more so.

He glanced at the clock hanging on the opposite wall. It was ten minutes to seven. If Dean didn't hurry Sam was going to have to go to dinner in the clothes he'd ridden in.

Dean didn't seem to be in any hurry, however, and at three minutes to seven he finally emerged from the bathroom, holding his left arm a little closer to his body than normal. Sam frowned.

"Are you..." Sam began but Dean held up a hand to stop him.

"Don't," Dean said quietly he sat down beside his brother on the loveseat and glared at the blank TV screen.

They sat in silence, Sam waiting for the inevitable.

"You've done this before haven't you?" Dean finally accused turning to glare at his brother.

Sam nodded sheepishly. "Jess had me go with her a couple times. I was never great at it but she seemed to like it."

Dean nodded. "I thought so."

"I got the 'Land in the Dirt' reward." Sam said with a grin. "The first time we went riding my horse spooked and reared. I slid off the back of the saddle and landed on my butt in the dirt. They printed up a certificate for me and everything."

Dean grinned and chuckled lightly with Sam.

"Well, at least there's one good thing about this place." Dean said slapping his legs and getting to his feet.

"What's that?" Sam asked already guessing at the answer.

"It's time for dinner and if tastes as good as it smells I think it'll make up for the horses."

Sam grinned at his brother and both of them headed out the door as the dinner bell rang from the main house's back porch.

Sam had to admit that Dean had a point when it came to the food. After a hearty meal of homemade fried chicken, biscuits, mashed potatoes and gravy, corn, baked beans, coleslaw, and blueberry pie with ice cream for dessert the brothers started back for their cabin, their stomachs bulging. Dean had an extra slice of pie on a paper plate and kept playing with the tinfoil. Sam had a feeling that the pie wasn't going to last very long even though Dean had had seconds of everything. Sam shook his head and smiled to himself. He wasn't sure where Dean packed it all. He felt full to the brink of exploding and yet Dean could've kept eating.

"Did you wanna go check out the trail tonight? See if we can find anything?" Sam asked as Dean lifted the tinfoil and broke off a bit of the flaky pie crust. Dean rolled his eyes at his brother and shook his head.

"If you think I'm gonna get back on that horse again today, Sammy, you are sadly mistaken."

Sam smirked as he pulled out his cabin key and opened the door for his brother. Dean plopped down on the loveseat and ripped the tinfoil all the way off and helped himself to his pie. "Does this place have cable?"

Sam frowned. "Probably not, Dean. Looks like they've got some movies though." He crouched down by the small DVD shelf and examined the movies. He grinned. "Mostly Clint Eastwood and John Wayne."

Dean grimaced. "Never mind."

Sam grabbed the TV remote anyway and sat down next to Dean. He flipped through the channels idly not really looking for anything to watch.

"Wait, wait," Dean said after a few clicks.

"What?"

"Go back. No one more. Yeah right there." Dean grinned.

"Dude we are not watching Porky's II." Sam complained as he began shuffling through the channels again.

"You're such a kill joy, Sammy."

"Yeah, yeah," Sam muttered under his breath.

The room took on a neon glow as the sun began to set. Dean tossed the empty paper plate onto the coffee table and stood up. He stretched slowly and yawned. "Think I'm gonna turn in."

"It's only 8:00, Dean." Sam said frowning.

"Well, there are guns to clean and knives to sharpen." Dean said shrugging then he gestured to the TV. "It's better than watching you channel surf." He shot his brother a grin as Sam rolled his eyes then started down the hall.

Sam flipped off the TV, there wasn't anything on anyway. Then he slowly walked down to the bedroom to join his brother. He wasn't surprised to see that Dean was already sitting on his bed, their guns spread out along the comforter and Dean was already cleaning out one of the barrels. Sam wrinkled his nose a little at the smell of the cleaner but sat down on his bed to watch.

Dean's expert hands worked quickly over the gun, cleaning both barrels before putting the gun back together with ease and loading rounds into it. Then he'd flick on the safety and set it aside. Sam knew Dean's routine well, he seen his brother doing it most of his life. He frowned a little when Dean winced as he reached for the next gun furthest from him.

"You still sore?" Sam asked.

Dean shrugged but didn't answer. He pulled up stiffly and began to take apart the new gun for cleaning. Sam scowled at him. He stood up and strode over to his brother, planting his feet right beside his brother's left leg.

"Show me," Sam growled narrowing his eyes.

Dean stopped what he was doing and raised his head to look inquisitively into his brother's face. "What?"

"Let me see," Sam said his voice getting rough with his impatience.

"It's just a little bruise, Sam, no big deal." Dean said rolling his eyes.

Sam huffed impatiently and grabbing the gun from his brother's hands he tossed it next to the others and tugged at Dean's shirt. Dean made to stop him but Sam was too quick for him.

Dean's side was a dark blue, almost black, starting from just below his ribcage and going up two or three ribs, stretching around almost all the way to his back. Sam's eyes widened in shock.

"Dean, how the hell did this..." Sam trailed off his eyes shooting to his brother's.

Dean tugged free and yanked his shirt back down. He pushed his brother away roughly and stood up, his breath heaving. "Damn horse stepped on me when I fell off."

"I thought you just fell." Sam said biting his lip.

"Well I didn't." Dean snapped he turned away from his brother and gathered up a clean pair of boxers and a black t-shirt.

"Dean, are you sure you don't have any broken ribs?" Sam asked as Dean started from the room.

Dean growled a little as he yanked open the door. "Don't you think I would've checked that myself, Sam? They're not broken, maybe cracked a little. I was gonna wrap them before I turned in but you barged in."

Sam frowned. "Why didn't you just tell me."

"Because it's nothing." Dean said sharply, then he turned away and walked out of the room slamming it behind him.

Sam sat back down on his bed, glaring at his knees. He hadn't seen Dean's accident, but he had had no idea that Dean had been stepped on. Sam worried his bottom lip between his teeth as he listened to Dean's shower noises. He knew Dean would need help to wrap his ribs when he was done. So he undressed and changed into his cotton sweats and a loose gray t-shirt and waited. He picked up the gun Dean had been cleaning and began to clean it idly while he waited. He wasn't quite as fast as Dean was, but he was close. He knew each part by heart and how to clean it to keep it in good working condition.

John had always drilled into them that a dirty weapon was a dangerous one. He'd always taught them the importance of knowing their guns inside and out. Sam finished one and picked up another. He was on his fourth gun when he looked at the clock.

Dean had been in the bathroom for nearly twenty minutes, the water was still running. Sam was used to Dean taking long showers, especially when Dean was sore. Dean would let the hot water soothe the ache. Sam went back to cleaning.

When he'd cleaned the last gun and packed it back in their duffel he began to get worried. The water was still going and he was sure, that even with this place that the hot water wouldn't have lasted this long. He opened the bedroom door softly and peered out.

The bathroom door was shut and steam was curling up from underneath the door. Sam went over and knocked. "Dean?"

There was no answer. Sam knocked again, louder this time and more urgently. "Dean! You ok?"

Again there was no answer.

Hoping that he wasn't going to barge in on his brother during a very private moment, Sam twisted the knob and found it unlocked. He poked his head in and looked around cautiously. The shower curtain was open, the water hitting the basin of the empty tub loudly as it fell. Billows of steam hit Sam in the face and he fought to suck in the air around the moisture. He blinked, then narrowed his eyes and finally saw his brother.

Dean was sitting on the toilet lid in his boxers, his head slightly slumped and his body tilted to the side. Sam hurried forward. "Dean?"

Dean opened his eyes wearily, and blinked at his brother in confusion. "Sammy?"

"Come on, let's get you outta here." Sam said. He straightened up and turned off the water then he grabbed Dean's arm on his uninjured side and gently pulled him up. Dean groaned and his head swayed onto Sam's shoulder.

Sam stumbled a little under Dean's weight, but pulled Dean's arm around his shoulders a little more firmly and began to walk to the bedroom, Dean's feet dragged a little as he walked beside him.

Sam lowered Dean onto his bed then retrieved the first aid kit and gently began to bind up Dean's ribs, making it as tight as he could to keep them firmly in place. Dean didn't object. He sat there with a glassy-eyed stare and only moved when Sam shoved a couple of painkillers under his nose. Dean accepted them and tossed them into his mouth, swallowing them dry. Sam gently eased his brother onto his back and pulled the extra blanket up around him.

Dean's unfocused eyes followed him as he walked across the room to turn off the light. Then Sam shuffled back to his own bed and collapsed on it. He listened to Dean's uneven breathing, and knew even with the painkillers that Dean was hurting. He waited until Dean's breathing evened out into sleep, then he closed his own eyes and allowed himself to drift.

The clinging of the dinner bell awoke them both before the sun had even come up. Dean groaned and pulled his pillow over his head but Sam turned and slowly sat up, planting his feet on the floor as he blinked groggily at his brother. Dean didn't move. A quick glance at the clock told him it was quarter after five. Sam groaned quietly himself as he reached for a clean pair of jeans and a shirt.

He dressed in the darkness then padded to his brother's bed. "Dean?"

Dean didn't answer him.

"Dean?" Sam inquired again as he gently placed a hand on Dean's shoulder. Dean grunted at him. "You want me to bring you something?"

Dean grunted again.

Sam tugged the loose blanket a little tighter around Dean's shoulders then left the room, shutting the door quietly behind him. He knew that Dean was bound to be sore after his accident the day before, he also knew Dean hadn't slept well because every time Dean had turned onto his injured side during the night he'd woken with a gasp, which in turn had woken Sam.

Sam had watched as Dean had gingerly touched his injured side then rolled away from Sam and had forced himself back to sleep. He'd only taken extra painkillers once around three that morning but even then his labored breathing hadn't evened out until well past four. So Sam let him sleep, he'd bring him breakfast and check on him later.

Sam yawned as he stepped up the back stairs to the main house and let himself in the back door. He'd do more research on local legends after their morning chores then see if Dean was up to checking out the trails tonight.

"Good morning, Sam." Jean greeted him with a warm smile as he stepped into the dining room. The long rectangular table was set for six places and the table seemed to be groaning under the weight of the food. Sam was sure that Dean wouldn't have liked to have missed this if he'd seen it.

Pancakes with maple syrup, bacon, sausage, hash browns, scrambled and fried eggs, ham steaks, blueberry muffins, oatmeal with cream and sugar, homemade biscuits, orange juice, milk and fresh coffee. Sam's stomach growled quietly.

"Where's Dean?" Jean asked glancing out the side window to see if she could see Dean on his way.

"He's still in bed, Jean." Sam said taking a seat and pouring himself a cup of coffee. He reached for saucer of cream and the bowl of sugar pouring a little in and stirring it with his spoon. "Turns out his fall was worse than he let on yesterday. Ranger stepped on him when he fell. He's got a few cracked ribs."

Jean's brows pulled together with worry. "Is he ok? Should we take him to the hospital?"

"No, he'll be ok. He's had cracked ribs before."

"Would he like a plate?" Jean asked as she gestured to the table. "I'd be happy to fix one for him."

"That'd be great thanks." Sam said. He helped himself to some of the pancakes, scrambled eggs and biscuits. "So what do we do after breakfast?"

"Well," Jean said as she poured some of the syrup into a small container and piled some pancakes onto a plate. "Randy and Jesse have already fed and watered the horses. So just a muck out for now. Then you can go for a ride if you want later."

Sam nodded as he gulped at his hot coffee.

"Would Dean like bacon or sausage?" Jean asked.

"Dean likes everything," Sam said easily as he helped himself to another biscuit. Just then two other guests walked in red-eyed and frumpy looking. Two giggling teenage girls followed them. They'd arrived late yesterday afternoon and had been dubbed "the gigglers" they'd giggled all the way through dinner much to Dean's annoyance. Sam had heard him grumbling something about giggle boxes.

"Well that makes it simple," Jean said as she loaded some of both onto Dean's plate. "Go ahead and grab a seat, help yourself to anything you'd like." She told the other guests. She added a few biscuits and scrambled eggs to Dean's plate then wrapped some tinfoil over it and set it down by Sam's plate. "Let me know if he needs anything."

Sam nodded and thanked her. Then he finished the last bite of pancake and scrambled eggs.

"Would your brother like some coffee or juice or something? I think I might have something in the kitchen that you could take it out to him in."

"Coffee would be great." Sam said he picked up Dean's plate and toyed with the tinfoil while he waited.

"And did you see the part where that guy's head just rolled right off and spun around. I've never been so scared in my life." One of the giggly girls said nervously. She had long brown hair that she kept pulled back in a tight ponytail. Her friend giggled quietly beside her as she pour herself some orange juice.

"I can't believe you made us watch that last night, Andrea." She whispered then giggled again. "I couldn't sleep I must have been up half the night."

Andrea grinned at her friend. "You need to lighten up, Kari, you made it out to be so much scarier than it was. I didn't even jump once." She stabbed her fork into her pancakes.

Kari flipped her blond hair over her shoulder and rolled her eyes. "It was your idea to watch the stupid movie. And what was with all that scribbling on the cover?"

"Probably just some stupid kid coloring, you are so paranoid." Andrea said almost rudely.

"Well it freaked me out a little. You heard about that girl who was found by the creek out here. What if..." Kari trailed off as she frowned at her scrambled eggs.

Andrea huffed impatiently. "Kari, you are so dumb. The headless horseman doesn't exist."

"Here you go, Sam." Jean said as she walked out of the kitchen holding a large thermos. "That'll keep it warm for him."

"Thank you," Sam said with a weak grin then he turned from Kari and Lisa and the older couple that looked as if they'd prefer to still be in bed and walked out the door to check on his brother.

"Dean?" Sam asked quietly as he poked his head into the still dark bedroom.

"Hmm?" Dean answered.

Sam flipped on the bedroom light and was surprised to see Dean sitting against his headboard, his head leaned back and his eyes closed. "I brought you some food."

Dean opened his eyes and slowly pulled his head up. Sam could see the pain lines creasing Dean's brow and around the corners of his mouth and he frowned. "Did you take some more painkillers?"

"Just took some." Dean grumbled.

Sam sat down next to Dean's hip and handed his brother the plate and thermos of coffee. Dean pulled back the tinfoil and his eyes widened in surprise and delight.

"Jean put as much on the plate as she could." Sam said as Dean accepted the fork Sam held out to him, then he opened the small container of syrup and poured it over his pancakes. The brown sugary liquid slid of the flat cakes and drenched everything else on the plate. Dean helped himself to the pancakes and eggs.

"I'm gonna go do the morning muck out and I'll be back." Sam said as he watched Dean devour half of the pancakes in a few quick bites.

Dean speared a sausage on the prongs of his fork and bit of the end. "Any new leads?"

"I'm gonna do some more research on it when I get back."

Dean nodded then shoved the rest of the sausage into his mouth.

"I'll be back." Sam said with a grin. If Dean's appetite was this healthy he knew there was nothing seriously wrong with his brother.

"Hey there," A tall well tanned man greeted Sam as he stepped into the shadowed stable. His hair was black but sprinkled with a few gray strands. He had a shaggy beard a mustache that hid most of his mouth and a tan cowboy hat that matched Jean's. His light brown eyes were friendly and he smiled welcoming at Sam. "I'm Jean's husband Randy." He held out an extended hand.

"Sam." Sam said with a warm smile of his own as he shook Randy's hand.

"Nice to meetcha, Sam. You here to do your muck out?"

"Yeah, and my brother's too."

"Where's your brother?" Randy asked.

"He's in the cabin. He fell off his horse yesterday and was stepped on. I didn't find out until last night."

Randy frowned. "We won't make you do a double mucking, Sam. My son Stephen can do that one. Which horse is your brother riding?"

"Ranger."

"Ranger, he's a good one. Well we'll clean his stall out for ya today."

"Thank you." Sam said gratefully, he hadn't been looking forward to cleaning both stalls.

"No problem. Now then, Sam, have you ever mucked out before?"

"Never." Sam admitted.

"No problem, lots of people who come here are first timers. We'll tell you how to do it." Randy said as he patted Sam's shoulder. Then he pushed his cowboy hat a little bit further back on his head. "Now which horse are you riding?"

"Ebony."

"Right then, I'll show you where we keep the cleaning tools and extra shavings first shall I?" Randy clapped his hands together and grinned. Sam wondered how anyone could be so enthusiastic about a chore like this.

Randy led the way outside to a small shed just outside the stable. Inside were several pitchforks, shovels, push brooms, and wheelbarrows. And around the backside of the stable under an overhang well protected from the elements was a large pile of shavings.

"Alrighty then," Randy said as he placed a pitchfork and a push broom into the wheelbarrow and gestured for Sam to take the handle bars.

Sam lifted the wheelbarrow onto its front wheel and followed Randy to Ebony's stall.

"Now the first thing," Randy instructed as he removed Ebony's halter from the door. "Is to take Ebony out and tie her in the cross ties." He let himself into Ebony's stall and slid on her halter. Ebony closed her eyes lazily as he rubbed her nose. Then he lead the horse out of her stall and around the corner to the cross ties. He was only gone a few minutes before he returned.

"Now," Randy continued, "we remove anything that could be contaminated while we are cleaning so take out the water bucket and manger, that's it. Good."

Sam was surprised by how heavy the water bucket was. His muscles bulged and he could feel a vein popping out on his forehead as he lifted the bucket. He was very relieved when he set it outside of the stall. Then he removed the manager and set it outside the stall as well.

"Ok, now you want to remove all the bigger pieces that you can see with the pitchfork and place them in the wheelbarrow here."

Sam lifted the pitchfork and push broom from the wheelbarrow, he set the broom aside and stepped into the stall. There were only two or three piles he could see on the surface and he felt a little relieved. Maybe it wouldn't be so hard to muck out after all. He slid the tip of the pitchfork under the piles and put them into the wheelbarrow.

"Great, now you want to move all the shavings to the side of the stall so it shakes loose any other droppings that might have been buried underneath." Randy said.

"All of it?" Sam asked looking at the millions of tiny shavings on the stall floor.

"Yep," Randy confirmed. "And also put any wet shavings into the wheelbarrow."

Sam slid the pitchfork underneath some of the soiled shavings and tossed them into the wheelbarrow, then he dutifully tossed the dry shavings to one side of the stall, a few droppings fell out. Sam scooped them up and put them in the wheelbarrow. Then he picked up another pile and repeated the process until all the shavings were to one side and he was sure that all the manure was in the wheelbarrow.

"Ok now take your push broom and sweep the floor." Randy instructed from the stall door.

Sam set the pitchfork aside and picked up the push broom. He began from the far corner and began to sweep out the stall with quick sweeps. Bits of dust and stray shavings flew into the air that made him cough. He worked his way from one end of the stall to the other pushing all the dirt out of the stall and into the aisle.

"Good work." Randy said admiringly as Sam swept out the last little bit. "Now go ahead and lay out the bed with the shavings.

Sam worked quickly to spread out the shavings again. He found he didn't quite have enough to cover the whole floor properly.

"Looks like we'll need some more shavings." Randy said he gestured for Sam to lay the pitchfork against the side of the stall and to grab the handlebars of the wheelbarrow again. Sam did and followed Randy out of the stable, pushing the heavy wheelbarrow in front of him. Randy lead him to the manure pile and Sam deposited his load onto it. Then they rinsed out the wheelbarrow and dried it before returning to the clean shavings and loading a few shovel loads into it. Then Sam and Randy returned to Ebony's stall and Sam spread out the new shavings.

"That should do it. Now just put the manger and the water bucket back inside and take the wheelbarrow and the pitchfork and broom back to the shed and you're done. Any questions?"

Sam shook his head and mopped at his brow. He was coated in a thin layer of sweat and his arm muscles ached, his back ached from having to bend over and pick up load after load on the pitchfork, his left hand had a blister on its middle finger and a second blister had already popped on his left thumb.

"Alright, we'll see you later then." Randy nodded at him then turned away. Sam hauled the heavy water bucket back into the stall then reattached the manger in the corner. Afterward he went and collected Ebony from the cross ties. She followed him quietly, her eye half closed as she watched him. Sam took her into the clean stall and removed her harness. Ebony looked around the clean stall, lifted her head and whinnied. Then she thanked him by depositing a fresh load onto the clean shavings.

Sam groaned and left the stall. He was secretly glad that Stephen was going to clean Ranger's stall today. Sam wasn't in the mood to clean a second stall right now. He just wanted a hot shower. So he slowly picked up the cleaning tools and pushed the wheelbarrow back to the outside shed.

As Sam left the stable he saw Kari and Angela exiting their cabin, it was cabin number five. Something seemed to pull at him and he felt the strangest inkling to check out their cabin. He knew that Dean would tease him about searching through underwear drawers and being a pervert, but this was something else. Quickening his stride Sam walked past his own cabin and glanced over his shoulder to make sure no one was looking. No one was around and the curtains were still drawn in the main house. Sam walked casually up cabin five's steps and tried the knob. It was unlocked.

Sam let himself in and shut the door quietly behind him. The layout was much the same as their cabin was. Sam began to look around to see if he could find what was making his skin tingle. He had good hunter instincts and knew that something in here wasn't right. As he neared the TV the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. A lone DVD case sat on the TV, but the title was almost impossible to make out. It had black writing and symbols all over it. Sam popped open the DVD player and removed the disc from inside. He placed it inside the DVD case then slipped the DVD under his shirt and hurried to the door. He cracked it open, and when the coast was clear he hurried out.

It only took him a minute to get to their own cabin, and he was relieved to see Dean was up. Dean had showered and was dressed, his hair in its usual untidy spikes.

Dean grinned when he saw him. "Dude, you've got shavings in your hair."

Sam rumpled his hair and a few small pieces of shaving fell onto the floor. Sam ignored them as he hurried to his brother and practically threw the DVD at him. "Look at this."

Dean cocked an eyebrow at the DVD case. Then he looked up at Sam incredulously. "Sleepy Hollow?"

Sam waved him off. "Do you recognize the symbols?"

Dean studied the symbols carefully then shook his head. "Just looks like a bunch of weird symbols to me, Sam."

Sam frowned. "They've gotta mean something don't they?"

Dean shrugged. "What you're saying the DVD's cursed?"

"Maybe, and maybe whoever watches it is the next who gets their heads cut off."

"Sam, that's stupid there's no such thing as a cursed movie." Dean said impatiently. He tossed the DVD back at Sam, who caught it, then tossed it onto the loveseat.

"I think it is, Dean. There are cursed objects that kill people. The last person to touch it, the last person to own it..."

"The last person to watch it?" Dean snapped sarcastically.

"Ok, it's a long shot. And maybe I'm just grasping at straws here. But Dean this is pretty strange."

"Strange or not, Sam, it's just a movie. How could the headless horseman come out of the DVD?"

Sam sighed and sat on the arm of the loveseat. "I don't know. Maybe it has something to do with the symbols."

"Sam..." Dean began but Sam waved him off again.

"Dean, we know anything is possible. The tulpa down in Texas? That came to life with the right symbols and with enough people believing in him."

"Sam, that was something that was based on a real person though. Some stupid kids just made up a dumb story about him, and then some idiots posted it on a website. And if you don't recall that little move nearly got us killed." Dean snarled.

Sam huffed impatiently. As if he could ever forget Harry and Ed, the two morons that were so determined to get a book and movie deal.

"Besides," Dean continued, "didn't you say that the headless horseman is just an old wives tale. He was invented from someone's imagination, not from a real person."

"But, Dean, Bloody Mary was just a made up character too. But it turned out that there was a real Bloody Mary in the world after all. What if there is a real headless horseman as well? Someone who died bloody and someone unknowingly released him?"

Dean's eyes widened in shock. "Go see what you can find out about the symbols. I'm gonna call Bobby."


	2. Chapter 2

Thanks to all those who are readying and enjoying this story so far. I'm not sure if I'm going to continue it here or not. No one seems too interested in it, and it takes up a lot of my time to work on it. So if you'd like me to continue please let me know. Thanks again for reading.

Around noon Sam heard a soft rapping on their cabin door. He looked up distracted from the multiple symbol decoder websites he'd been looking at as he tried to decode what the symbols on the DVD case could mean. So far he hadn't gotten very far and he was starting to get discouraged. He knew Dean was sleeping in the bedroom.

After talking to Bobby, who'd never heard of anything like this, Dean had suggested looking into code decoders to see if they could make out what they symbols even said. The brothers had studied the symbols for a couple hours before Sam had noticed a change in Dean's posture, his breathing, the lines on his face. Dean had been stoic about it for another hour then he'd caved and had left for the bedroom to get more painkillers. When he hadn't come back Sam had gone in to check on him, Dean was on his side facing away from him, his breathing deep and labored. Sam had let him sleep.

The soft rapping came again. Sam slid the DVD into the loveseats cushions and walked quietly to the door. He cracked it open to see Jean standing there with a couple of brown paper sacks. Sam opened the door wider. "Hey, Jean."

"Hey, Sam, I wasn't sure if Dean would be up to coming over for lunch so I brought some lunch to you guys instead." She handed him the two brown paper sacks.

"Thanks, Jean, that was really nice of you." Sam smiled at her.

"No problem, if there's anything we can do for you boys let us know." Jean smiled back. She turned to walk back to the house but then hesitated and turned back. "We're going to the fire-pit tonight for dinner and do a cookout. I don't know if you and Dean would like to join us but if you would it's just through those trees on the other side of the stable." Jean pointed in the general direction. "We do ghost stories and old legends after dinner along with smores so if Dean feels up to it feel free to join us at six."

Sam nodded at her. "I'll tell him."

"Maybe we'll see you later then." Jean said with a small smile then she turned back and hurried back to the main house and her waiting guests.

Sam watched her go for a minute then closed the door. He peered into the lunch sacks, although he wasn't very hungry thanks to his large breakfast. There was a container of stew, an apple, biscuit and what looked like chocolate cake. Sam rolled up the bag again and set both on the coffee table. He'd eat later if he got hungry. He frowned at the small notepad and the notes he'd taken.

He'd copied the symbols off the DVD case and for each symbol he decoded he put that letter next to it. So far he only had a few.

H - x  
O - )  
R - &  
S - #  
E - ^  
M - +  
A - ?  
N -

He knew that the curse had something to do with the horseman but he wasn't sure what it was yet. Slowly he began to replace the symbols with the letters he had decoded. Then he studied the other symbols thoughtfully.

He had a good guess of what they meant now just by the missing letters in some of the words. So he carefully wrote in letters, second guessing himself on some of them until he came up with something he thought might be probable.

I curse ye the poor soul who watch this  
for I myself was cursed in life.  
I will call him back, he who seeks his revenge.  
And he will ride as he searches for a head.  
The horseman rides at the witching hour  
and will only rest when what is his is returned to him.  
He will not rest until he has it for he will take those of others  
the headless horseman wants his head and will not rest until it is returned again.

"Hey," Dean's soft voice from behind him made him jump. Sam turned, his notepad flying into the air. Dean easily caught it, a bemused smiling curling the edges of his mouth. "little jumpy, Sammy?"

Sam's breath came out in a huff. Dean's smile widened.

"Any luck with the symbols?"

"Take a look," Sam said pointing to the pad in Dean's hand.

Dean frowned and looked at the symbols, and decoded letters. He mouthed them silently to himself, the frown lines on his forehead deepening the further he read. After a minute he looked back up at Sam, his eyes troubled.

"What do you think?" Sam asked as Dean handed him the pad back.

"I think you're too smart for your own good." Dean said lightly and tapped Sam on the shoulder.

Sam rolled his eyes. "That's not what I meant, Dean. Do you think that's what they symbols really mean?"

"Probably as close as we're gonna get." Dean said he eyed the brown paper bags curiously, then picked one up and peered inside. His eyes widened in delight and he took out the container of stew and the fork. He popped off the lid, tossed it next to some of the papers they'd scribbled notes on on the coffee table and sat down gingerly next to his brother and began to eat.

"How could someone put a curse on a DVD though?" Sam wondered, mostly to himself.

"You said it yourself, Sammy, that with the right symbols and with enough people believing." Dean said through a mouth full of stew.

Sam shook his head. "This isn't the same, Dean. None of these symbols are like the ones we saw in Texas."

Dean swallowed the last of his stew loudly and used his biscuit to wipe the last of the gravy from the sides of the container. "What kind of symbols are they then?"

Sam shook his head and frowned at his notepad. "That's what I don't get, Dean. They aren't any ancient Indian symbols, Latin, or anything else we've ever come across."

Dean's eyebrows narrowed slightly. "So how'd you crack it?"

"Ran it through a few code-breakers off the internet. It took a lot of code-breakers for me to come up with the right letter for each symbol, but I think I've got it right this time."

"It'd seem so. It makes sense anyway." Dean brushed the biscuit crumbs off his fingers and took out the cake. "I mean," he said as he took a large bite, "if the horseman is coming out then the code would have to do something with the horseman right?"

"The thing is, Dean, I can't be sure that I do have it right. This code was so complex that most of the code-breakers didn't even process more than a couple of symbols. This would be my best guess if I was going to just have a crack at it myself though." Sam frowned at the DVD case in frustration.

"So there's a real horseman out there somewhere that had his head sliced off and he's gonna cut off other people's heads until he gets his back?"

Sam shrugged.

"Did you find anything that happened like that on the property?"

Sam shook his head and tossed the DVD onto the coffee table with a sigh. "Dean, all the internet brings up when I do a search engine on the headless horseman or anything close to it is "Sleepy Hollow" or websites that I can purchase the movie. I looked into the land too and there isn't anything about a war, or mysterious deaths that would explain why the horseman has chosen this ranch to behead people."

"Maybe we'll have to talk to Jean." Dean suggested.

"Or Randy." Sam agreed. "Wait a second..."

"What is it?" Dean asked curiously. He tossed the apple back and forth between his hands.

"Jean said something about a cook out tonight for dinner at the fire-pit I almost forgot all about it."

"That figures," Dean smiled but rolled his eyes.

"No, Dean, wait a minute," Sam snapped impatiently, "she said something about ghost stories and old legends. Maybe we won't have to ask them about the horseman."

"What time?"

"She said around six." Sam cocked an eyebrow at him. "You gonna feel up to it?"

Dean shook his head. "Don't have much choice do I? We gotta stop this thing before someone else gets hurt, Sammy."

"I could just go, Dean. I'd bring something back for you."

Dean waved him off. "Sam, I'm gonna go. I feel fine."

Sam barely repressed an eye roll. "We're gonna have to re-wrap your ribs before we go. And make sure you get more painkillers in you before we go. We're probably gonna be sitting on logs or something so you are gonna be stiff if you don't."

"Think I'll go grab a shower then." Dean said he tossed the apple at Sam, who caught it easily, then walked down the hall to the bathroom.

Sam sighed and looked again at the message he had decoded and wished silently that just for once he was wrong.

"Sam," Jean said with a warm smile and then her eyes widened marginally as she spotted Dean a few steps behind his brother. "Dean, I wasn't sure if you boys were going to make it."

Dean offered her a weak smile as the brothers stepped into the firelight. The fire-pit was surrounded by large spruce trees and the fire sparked and flickered, a few stray sparks flew into the sky but faded quickly. The fire was in a deep pit to stop it from spreading and catching the trees on fire. And several logs sat around it, just as Sam had suspected. But on the far side of the fire were two lawn chairs, both of them empty.

The older couple was absent, but Angela and Kari were both sitting on one of the logs whispering quietly to each other and giggling. Randy was there as well and so were two boys that Sam assumed where Jean and Randy's kids. They were helping Randy put hotdogs on iron spits. An English Springer lay next to one of the logs, his head resting on his paws his eyes on the fire, and on his back was little Yorkie puppy curled up in a tight ball, fast asleep. Dean nudged Sam in the ribs and Sam looked too then laughed quietly.

The English Springer seemed to have heard them for he lifted his head, looked at them for a long moment then wagged his stubby tail furiously. He started to stand up which woke up the little Yorkie puppy. He slid off the side of the Springer's back and landed with a plop on his bottom. He looked a little put out to find his nice soft bed gone but he trotted over to Jean and started to paw at her pant legs, begging to be picked up.

The liver and white English Springer sat down in front of Sam and Dean and panted happily, his stubby tail wagging furiously in the dirt, his extremely long tongue hanging from one side of his mouth and his soft brown eyes gazing up at them hopefully. Sam rubbed the dog's soft ears and the dog closed his eyes lazily and groaned in pleasure.

"Jack," Jean scolded gently with a fond smile as she looked at the English Springer, "are you begging for attention?"

Jack's tail wagged even more furiously, so fast it was almost a blur. He trotted quickly to her side and sat down by her feet and gazed up at her with big loving eyes, his tongue hanging over his teeth, a silver line of saliva fell into the dirt and disappeared. The Yorkie puppy, not used to being ignored, barked piteously and continued to paw at Jean's legs, his stubby tail wagging hopefully as Jean looked down at him.

"Priestly, you are the most spoiled puppy in this county." Jean laughed as she lifted the puppy into her arms. The puppy wiggled in delight and tried his best to lick every inch of her he could. Jean held him away from her face but that didn't stop his little pink tongue from shooting out and trying to get her nose. Jean laughed and planted a kiss on the wiggling puppy's head. She shifted him to one hand, cupping him under the chest to support his weight and he settled there content.

"Dinner's ready." Randy announced at that moment. He turned from the small table he'd brought out with him and started handing around the spits with the skewered hotdogs on them. "Everyone roasts their own hotdogs. We have buns, mustard, ketchup, cheese, dill and just about anything else you want to put on them over here when you've cooked them to your liking. We also have plates, chips and vegetables as well as soft drinks and water so please help yourselves."

Sam got a spit for each of them and handed one to Dean. They looked around for a place to sit.

"I brought the lawn chairs out for you boys, I wasn't sure if Dean would be up to sitting on one of the logs." Jean said kindly.

Sam felt relieved, he wasn't sure if Dean had been up to it either, although he knew Dean hated to be singled out. He wasn't wrong Dean's face darkened just the tiniest bit but he flashed a false smile at her and thanked her in a tight but polite voice. The brothers sat in the lawn chairs and lowered their hotdogs towards the flames. The orange sparks danced around the edge of the pink hotdogs turning them darker until the skin began to blister and turn black.

Dean turned his hotdog over and let the other side cook, Sam pulled his hotdog out of the flames and tested it with his fingers. Then he too stuck it back in the flames. Jean and Randy sat on the log closest to them, Dean could see Priestly asleep in Jean's lap and Jack was once again lying down next to the log his head on his paws but his eyes were now fixed on the hotdogs that were being roasted over the fire. Every once in a while he'd lick his lips and his tail would wag a few times when someone would pull his hotdog out to test it. Then he'd go still again when he realized that no one was offering him a treat.

Dean pulled his blistered and slightly blackened hotdog out of the flames and squeezed it with his fingers. It was soft and incredibly juicy. It was done. He slowly pushed himself off his chair and walked to the table to make his hotdog, Sam followed along behind.

It seemed that every hotdog finished at the same time because everyone was soon waiting to get their buns, condiments, chips and drinks. Dean grabbed a soda without looking at what kind it was and went back to his seat. Sam sat down a few minutes later, his hand balancing his plate and his other wrapped around the neck of a bottled water. Jack lifted his head off his paws and walked over to them eagerly. He sat down, his back to the fire and gave them a doggy smile his eyes going from one to the other eagerly.

Dean bit into his hotdog and Jack's mouth closed. He kept his eyes locked on Dean's plate. Every time Dean lifted something to eat Jack's eyes would follow him, he'd lick his lips, then swallowed when Dean swallowed. He inched forward a couple inches as if the temptation was too great to bare. Dean tossed his last bite of hotdog at Jack, and Jack caught it in the air. He chewed it quickly and swallowed, then licked a bit of ketchup from the corner of his mouth and turned to Sam. Sam looked at Dean and grinned then tossed the last of his hotdog to Jack who once again caught it midair and almost inhaled it. The dog's tail wagged happily as he stared at the two brothers and he lifted a paw into the air, offering to shake with them in return for more treats. Sam laughed and took his paw, he shook it firmly and Jack whined as he looked at the small pile of Doritos on Sam's plate. Sam gave him one and Jack crunched it loudly.

"Priestly, I can't eat with you doing that now down you go." Jean said firmly.

The brothers turned to look at the little Yorkie being lowered to the ground. He promptly jumped right back up onto Jean's lap and stuck the edge of his little black nose onto her plate sniffing hopefully. His small triangle shaped ears were perked forward and his small pink tongue worked its way around his mouth and then disappeared again.

A small crunch brought Sam back to his own plate. Jack had taken advantage of them not paying attention to him and had helped himself to a chip from Sam's plate. Sam grimaced but Dean laughed. Sam tossed the chips one by one to Jack after that, no longer eager to eat them. Everyone around the circle chatted quietly with each other, all of them enjoying the warm fire on the slightly chilly night and the pleasure of being outside under the beautiful sky and trees.

Dean got up to roast himself another hotdog but Sam sat on his chair watching Kari and Angela talking quietly to each other. They weren't laughing now and they looked quite serious and frightened. Jack nudged him with his large wet brown nose begging to be petted. Sam rubbed a silky ear distractedly and tried to tune in to what the girls were saying over the crackling of the fire and the two other conversations going on around him.

"I swear I saw something, Ang." Kari said in a tiny squeak.

"Kari," Angela said sounding exasperated, she rolled her eyes. "It is nothing but shadows. There are no such things as ghosts."

Sam felt his mouth twitch. If only they knew. There were all kinds of things that were not supposed to exist that he and his brother had seen, not only that but they'd also gotten rid of them. Anything was possible in the supernatural world.

"The horse too? That was just shadows?" Kari asked her voice shrill now.

"It was probably Jesse trying to scare you." Angela reassured her patting Kari's knee gently.

"Ang, it was the horseman. He came to life." Kari whispered her eyes brimming with tears.

"Kari, it is just a movie. The horseman doesn't exist." Angela said gently but firmly. Then she took Kari's plate from her lap and rose from her log to dump them both in the garbage bag. Kari watched her go and wiped at her eyes furiously.

Dean returned with another hotdog and sat down next to him and put the hotdog over the flames. Sam watched the hotdog skin begin to blister and blacken. But was interrupted by laughter. He looked around surprised, then looked down at the ground.

Priestly had planted his bottom on the ground and was dragging himself forward so fast with his front legs he seemed to be sliding on ice rather than dirt. Then he stood up, shook and picked up a stick by the edge of the fire, he promptly rolled onto his back and began to chew at it with his sharp white teeth. His eyes darting around at all the people watching him. His front legs wiggled as he fought the stick in his mouth but his back legs were perfectly motionless and sticking straight up in the air. At his post Jack let out an audible sigh, which made everyone laugh louder.

"Ok," Randy said standing up and clapping his hands. "Time for ghost stories. Stephen, would you like to start?"

One of the brothers stood up, he was slightly taller than the other with a mop of dark brown hair, it was so dark it almost appeared black. His face was round and his nose seemed a little too long to fit his face. His eyes sparkled in anticipation and he smiled a leering smile at the small group.

"There's an old story that goes with these parts," Stephen began in a soft spooky tone that made Angela and Kari shift closer together. "A story that involves a man, betrayal, and an on going search that will never end. Some say he's cursed, others say he's angry, some say he's summoned when someone wants revenge. Who knows what's true, all I know is that I've seen him and I know he exists out there still."

Kari clutched Angela's arm, her nails digging into Angela's soft skin, but Angela didn't seem to notice. Sam leaned forward eagerly and Dean pulled his hotdog from its spit.

"Many many years ago," Stephen continued as he leered at Angela and Kari who seemed to be hanging on his every word, "there was a man named Casey, but no one remembers his last name. He was a solider and fought in many wars helping to win all but one of them. He was fighting with his Sargent as they tried to settle the land, but the battles were fierce and many men were lost. Somehow Casey and his Sargent always survived even though most of their men were usually lost."

"It was in the early 1800's that it happened. Casey and his Sargent were fighting their fiercest battle ever and Casey saw his Sargent pulled off of his steed. The black stallion galloped away from the enemy forces and straight at Casey. Casey caught the animal's reins and stopped it from fleeing. The animal was fiery and fierce. It snorted and reared pawing angrily at the air. It's eyes were wide with fear as the gunshots went off and swords clanged around it. Casey pulled himself onto the animal's back and turned it around making it go back towards the battle, back to where he'd seen his Sargent fall. He drew his sword and sliced off the heads of the enemy as he galloped past them, his swings too fast to see coming until the heads were rolling away on the ground."

Kari gasped and covered her mouth with her hands. Angela looked very sick. Dean tossed the last bit of hotdog towards Jack, but Priestly spotted it first. Quick as lightning he dashed forward and siezed the bit of hotdog from under Jack's nose and galloped off towards Jean with it. He leapt onto her lap, and looked down at Jack with the bit of hotdog hanging from the corner of his mouth. If Dean didn't know better he'd have thought the puppy was smoking a cigar. He laughed quietly to himself.

"Soon the battle was won, Casey and his soldiers once again victorious. But something had changed in Casey. He no longer wanted to fight to settle the land he wanted to fight for the blood and for the blood of his Sargent that had spilled into the ground. He killed without mercy, slaughtering anyone who dared to cross his path, men, women, children, he didn't care as long as he spilled their blood. And he always killed them in the same way, all the bodies were found without their heads. It was almost fifteen years later that a large group of men caught up with him. Casey was riding in the woods several miles away from here when the men cornered and ambushed him. The Sargent's horse, Daredevil, was fatally wounded and went down from underneath Casey. The men surrounded him and Casey fought them, but there were too many. One of them got his sword up under the Casey's ribs and another grabbed Casey's own sword and took off Casey's head with it."

There was silence around the fire now, both Sam and Dean were leaning forward slightly their faces identical with their frowns of concentration. Angela and Kari were also still except for the tiny shuddering of their clasped hands.

"They buried his body where they killed him, but they carried his head away and buried it somewhere else. Some say even on this land so that the horseman could never again rise to terrorize them. But it seems as though their plan backfired on them. Because one by one each of them men saw a ghostly demon on horseback at night, always at the witching hour. It would haunt them for several days and then their bodies would be found their heads gone. No one ever knew what happened until one night a little boy survived the slaughter and told the people what he had seen. The horseman was indeed a demon for he rode with no head on his shoulders, and his black steed had fiery red eyes and a deep wound in its chest, yet it had no blood to bleed. The horseman had sliced off the heads of his victims and had carried them away with him. The boy had only seen two things that the horseman had carried with him his sword and his black bag." Stephen grinned at the two quivering girls. "A few days later the little boy was gone and no one ever saw him again, some say the horseman caught up with him and added him to his collection, others say he ran off in hopes to escape the horseman's wrath. But no one escapes him when he wants you for he is no longer Casey he is the Headless Horseman!" Stephen started to laugh a chilling laugh.

"If you don't believe this story, believe this," Stephen said quietly as he looked around at all their faces. "I was out riding one night one of our horses had gotten loose and there was a cougar around I wanted to bring the mare in. The night was cold and no crickets sang. The night creatures seemed frozen and I found it strange. But still I searched for the mare. I had come to the crossroad in the trail and had turned for the creek to get my horse a drink of water for we'd gone far and he was thirsty. But as he stepped into the creek I knew something was terribly wrong. My horse started to fight me and he began to snort and kick up the water. Then I heard it the sound of approaching hooves. I thought the mare was coming to meet us, but something didn't feel right and that's when I realized that the approaching horse was no friend, but of that of the demon said to haunt these parts. My horse reared and spun and I urged him on. We galloped as fast as we could back to the stable but even as fast as we were going I could hear the horseman gaining on me. I dared to look behind me to see if the legends were true and I was so shocked I fell off my horse. He galloped off without me his tail flying high and his reins dangling around his neck. The other horse stopped and the horseman got off. He came at me slowly, swinging his sharp sword around in a circle as he approached. I felt my heart pounding against my ribcage and knew that I was about to breathe my last breath when..."

Suddenly one of the horses in the stable whinnied to one of its neighbors. Kari screamed and jumped up from her log yanking her hands out of Angela's. She looked around the circle with terrified tears in her eyes then ran away from the fire-pit and back towards her cabin, Angela raced after her.

"Well," Jean said after a long silence, "who wants a smore?" She lifted a large bag of puffy white marshmallows.

"So what do you think?" Sam asked a quarter of an hour later as he and Dean walked slowly back to their cabin.

Dean shrugged one shoulder and frowned at the ground. "Could be some truth in it - might just be a story to scare the guests though, Sam."

"It would explain why the horseman kills around here though, Dean. If the DVD is cursed and the head is buried somewhere on the property the horseman would have a link here. If someone knew about this Casey guy and knew about the horseman legends I'm sure he could've cursed the DVD and brought the horseman under his power."

"But how would he do that? If no one knows where the head is? Even in the movie Katrina's Stepmother had the horseman's head which is how she controlled him."

"Maybe someone found the head?" Sam said doubtfully.

Dean shook his head. "It seems like a long shot to me, Sammy. We're just gonna have to keep lookin'."

As the brothers approached their cabin, the door to number five opened and Kari rushed out her bags in her hand, Angela was following her her face flushed.

"Kari it was just a ghost story."

"I'm not staying here, Ang. Not with that...that horseman out there. I'm not gonna have my head cut off." Kari yelled as she hurried to where they'd parked their car.

"Why don't we just sleep on it and we can decide for sure in the morning. You're just spooked now because of Stephen's story, but it was just a story!" Angela grabbed Kari's arm and dug her heels into the ground, forcing Kari to stop. One of Kari's heavy bags fell out of her hand and burst open.

"Shoot," Kari shouted, then she tugged her arm out of Angela's grasp and began to hastily stuff the clothes back into the suitcase. "I'm not staying here. I want to go home."

"So you're just gonna leave me here?" Angela demanded as Kari gathered the last of her items and had snapped the clasps closed on the suitcase again.

"I told you I was gonna leave - you said you want to stay. I'm not gonna stop you just don't expect me to stay here. You can come if you want, if not I'll come back at the end of the week and pick you up."

"Kari, you aren't being fair about this." Angela said harshly as she once again grabbed her friend's arm in an attempt to keep her from leaving.

"I'm not being fair?" Kari said in a high pitched voice as she turned to her friend. "I'm the one not being _fair?_ Whose idea was it to come here in the first place? Who is the one who loves horses? I wanted to go to the beach, catch a few rays, do some shopping. But no you had to come to the ranch. You had to have a place to ride. I went along with it, but I'm not gonna stay here if there's a killer on the loose. You can't make me!"

Angela glared at her friend, her fingers were still wrapped around Kari's arm. "You agreed. You said it sounded fun."

"I lied." Kari shrieked then she jerked her arm away and ran as fast as she could under her heavy load towards the car.

"Do you hear that?" Sam asked Dean quietly.

Dean frowned and listened hard. The night was filled with the usual night time sounds. A few crickets chirped, a few of the horses moved restlessly in their stalls and nickered quietly. Dean could still hear Jean's family at the fire as well but on top of that he could hear the distant sound of hooves upon the ground, of galloping hooves.

"What time is it?"

Sam looked at his watch. "Half past nine."

"I thought the horseman only came at the witching hour? That's midnight."

Sam nodded but he bit his lip. "Unless something else is summoning him, or gives him the power to come out before midnight."

"Like what?"

"Like the time the horseman died. If he was killed at a certain time he might be able to come out and kill at that time."

"Crap," Dean muttered he wrapped an arm around his ribs and glared at their cabin.

"I'll get the guns," Sam said quickly then he took off at a jog towards their cabin.

From the fire-pit both Jack and Priestly began to bark furiously, the sounds echoed and drowned each other out, making it almost impossible to hear anything else.

Kari had made it to the car and was fumbling with the keys, trying to get the door opened while trying to balance her suitcases at the same time. She dropped the keys and cursed loudly before bending down and trying to find them in the dark.

Angela watched Kari from where she stood, her arms crossed over her chest her long brown hair had begun to fall out of its ponytail and was now blowing about her face. Her shoulders heaved a little with each intake of breath, as though she were crying silent sobs.

Then the whole world seemed to go off at once. The camp fire exploded shooting sky high, making the whole world seem orange. Dean stepped back a few steps in surprise. Then it was gone with only a black trail of smoke heading towards the sky. Dean couldn't even see the faintest flicker of orange anymore, and the clouds hid the moon sending the grounds into darkness.

The dogs yelped and then ran towards the house, Dean could see Jack charge up the stair, slipping in his haste to get through the doggy door and little Priestly hurrying after him. The power went out and the cabins and main house went dark. Dean looked over his shoulder to look for Sam but couldn't see him anywhere.

Then a high pitched scream unlike any he'd ever heard before made his blood run cold. He turned back to where he'd last seen Kari and Angela but he couldn't see them anymore. Ignoring the sharp pains in his chest Dean hurried forward as the sound of approaching galloping hooves got louder.

"Ang!" Kari screamed into the darkness her voice filled with terror. "Ang!"

"Kari?" Angela yelled back and Dean could hear her feet beat against the gravel. He ran in that direction depending on his ears rather than his eyes, and his uncanny other senses that had become extremely sharp thanks to his years of hunting. He knew Angela was closer and he could remember where the cars were even though he couldn't see them. If he could just get Angela to the safety of the main house he'd be able to get to Kari within a couple of minutes.

The high pitched scream rang out again and this time Dean realized that it wasn't a human scream but rather an animal. He heard Angela cry out and then something heavy hit the ground. He turned his head towards the unnerving sound and froze.

A large black stallion stood just at the ranch gate, he was tossing his large black head and snorting. He chomped at the bit as if impatient to go he shifted his weight from one foot to the other his fiery red eyes seemed to glow like neon. On his back was a figure in a dark cloak that flowed gracefully over the horse's rump. His broad shoulders where relaxed and he held the reins of his steed in one hand, the other held a sword. As the clouds parted over the moon slightly Dean could see over the man's shoulders and there was no head there.

Suddenly the black stallion reared, his hind legs holding him steady while his front legs pawed at the air furiously. He whinnied and snorted, blowing puffs of white steam into the air. Then he fell and charged his goal clearly aiming at the cars.

"Kari!" Angela screamed, she hadn't seemed to notice the horseman but she could feel something wasn't right.

Dean ran forward and almost tripped over a pair of legs. He caught his balance then reached down and grabbed a shoulder. He heard Angela's gasp of surprise. He quickly pulled her to her feet. "Get to the house!" Dean demanded.

"Kari!" Angela sobbed.

"Go!" Dean snapped he gave the girl a push towards the house and ran blindly towards the cars wondering where the hell Sam was. He could hear his heart pounding in his ears, but oddly enough the horseman's horse's hooves pounding against the ground drowned it out. He knew even as fast as he was going that he wouldn't reach Kari in time.

Kari seemed to have realized that the hooves were heading in her direction and had panicked. She ran from the cars straight down the drive, not sure where she should go. Dean could see her blond hair flying behind her, its golden tones picking up the faintest of lights like a beacon for the horseman to follow.

Dean ran after her but the black stallion easily overtook him, the horseman blew past him his sword held high. Kari was gasping and screaming as she tried to find safety. She tripped and went sprawling as the horseman gained on her. She lay gasping on the ground, clearly in shock.

"Kari!" Dean yelled but he knew he was too late.

Just then a shotgun boomed and a spray of rock salt hit the horseman and his horse. They didn't even seem phased by it. The horseman lifted his sword high and swung. Kari's gasps cut off abruptly. The shotgun boomed again, this time closer.

Dean could see his brother running at the horseman and he ran after him. The horseman jerked this time as the rock salt hit his body. His torso turned in Sam's direction and he lifted an ax from his belt and lowered into a slightly crouched position as if ready to fight him.

"Sam, no!" Dean bellowed desperately. But to his relief he'd seen that Sam had stopped a good distance away from the horseman and kept the gun trained on him.

The horseman stayed completely still for a minute. It was a bit absurd to see a headless torso facing off with his brother, almost eerie as if the invisible head could see Sam and was calculating him thoughtfully. Then he straightened up, turned and jabbed his sword into something on the ground then mounted his horse again.

The black stallion reared again.

"Kari!" Angela screamed from behind Dean.

The horse fell back onto all fours and snorted. The horseman swung his sword around and held it aloft, Whatever he'd picked up with it was now gone. Dean saw the horseman shift in the saddle, then horse and rider charged right at them.

"Dean!" Sam screamed.

"Angela!" Dean turned around an saw her a few feet away from him. He ran at her determined to save at least one of them.

He could hear the horseman's horse approaching, could feel the ground tremble with the beating of its hooves. He pushed himself harder, his breath coming in gasps as the pain in his ribs doubled. He was almost to Angela when he felt the hot breath of the horseman's horse on his neck. The short hairs on his neck prickled and stood on end. His heart beat more furiously. He made a flying leap at her just as the horseman swung his sword.

A sharp slicing pain registered in Dean's right arm as he tackled Angela to the ground covering her body with his. He also felt something give in his chest and knew that at least of his cracked ribs was now a broken rib. Something warm trickled down his arm, running down his fingers and dripped to the ground. He waited, holding his breath for the final blow.

It didn't come. His lungs ached and he breathed. Then he opened his eyes and looked around him. The night was still except for his heavy breathing and Angela's breathless gasps beneath him. Then he heard Sam.

"Dean! Dean! Dean, are you ok? Talk to me!"

He felt his brother's hands on his shoulders turning him over, rolling him onto the gravel and freeing Angela's body from his weight. He groaned as his ribs protested and his right arm burned.

"Dean!" Sam's voice was desperate as he shook Dean slightly. Dean wanted to answer him but he was finding it hard to draw in air let alone talk.

"Sam?"

Dean wasn't sure if he remembered who that voice belonged to. But he could hear her approaching footsteps as she ran towards them.

"Sam? What happened? Holy crap, is he ok?"

Sam's face was replaced by Jean's and Dean could feel someone touching his burning arm. He wanted to recoil from the touch but his body didn't want to respond.

"He's bleeding!" Jean cried out in shock.

Angela caught her breath at that moment and began to cry. Jean disappeared from Dean's line of sight as she went to comfort her.

"Dean? Can you hear me?" Sam asked, his face once again hovering over Dean's.

Dean swallowed and licked his dry lips. "Sammy." His voice was barely more than a whisper.

"I'm here, Dean."

"Burning, arm is burning." Dean muttered.

"I'm gonna take care of it, Dean. The horseman got you pretty good. I'll have to stitch it."

Dean had figured as much. He tried to slowly push himself up into a sitting position but his ribs screamed at him and he gasped.

"Dean?" Sam asked worriedly. "What is it?"

"Ribs, think one of 'em is broken." Dean whispered.

Sam carefully felt along his brother's ribcage and frowned when he felt the now definitely broken rib. "Yep, it's this one right here. I'm gonna have to set it."

Dean tried to nod. He wasn't sure if he succeeded but Sam seemed to know what he was trying to say anyway. Dean closed his eyes and held his breath as Sam shifted into a better position next to him.

"On three," Sam said as he eyed his brother carefully. "One..." He snapped the rib back into place.

Dean inhaled and groaned but didn't cry out. He lay still for several minutes breathing in deeply his left hand curling and uncurling into a fist. Then at last he opened his eyes and looked up at his brother.

"We need to get you back to the cabin," Sam said quietly. "You're loosing a lot of blood."

Dean wrapped his left arm protectively around his ribs and struggled to sit up. Sam put his arm around Dean's shoulders and helped him sit up. Dean didn't fight him, he didn't think he would've made it without Sam's help.

"Angela where's Kari?" Jean asked the hysterical girl.

"He killed her! He killed her!" Angela cried her face buried in her hands.

"Who killed her?" Jean asked her face troubled as she rubbed small circles on the girl's back. "Angela, where is Kari?"

"He took her head. She's gone. She's gone."

Dean's eyes roamed over to where the place where Kari had fallen and he sighed. He allowed Sam to turn him away and help him to their cabin.

"The horseman took his last victim tonight, Sam. We're gonna get this guy and he's gonna burn." Dean growled quietly.

Sam helped Dean up the stairs without saying a word. The power had come back on again so he could see easily as he pulled his key from his pocket. His shirt was splattered with red and his hands were gory with it. Dean hadn't realized that Sam had been keeping a hand clamped over his right arm, which added to the burning pain of it until Sam let go. Immediately warmth began to run down Dean's arm again and Sam's bloody hand grabbed the knob and twisted it leaving a gory mark in its wake. Sam turned back to him his face grave.

"We'll get him, Dean. I promise you we'll get him." Sam wrapped an arm around Dean's waist to help him in the cabin. Dean allowed the touch and started forward, but even though he remembered lifting his foot he didn't remember setting it down. The world spun around him sickeningly and then went white. Dean didn't hear Sam's desperate cry of his name or the arms that caught him as he fell, he only felt the sweet oblivion of unconsciousness.

Sam sighed as he replaced the cool cloth on Dean's forehead. Dean barely protested the cool fabric against his hot sweaty brow. His lips open and closed a few times and then he went still again. Sam's brow wrinkled and he bit his lip.

Dean had been unconscious for almost twenty-four hours now, with no signs of waking any time soon. Jean had offered to call a doctor and at this point Sam was desperate enough to take her up on that offer.

Sam had been terrified when the horseman had headed straight for his brother; he'd seen the large black stallion gaining on his brother, even though Dean had desperately made a move to protect Angela from the horseman's wrath. Sam's own movements had been sluggish and desperately slow. He'd seen the horseman's sword swing and then Dean go down.

At that moment, his whole world had stopped. He hadn't even been aware of the horseman's disappearance, or of his legs moving him to his brother's side. All he knew was one minute Dean was down and the next Sam was at his side, praying to any God who might be listening that Dean was still alive, still breathing.

Sam's legs had collapsed beneath him and he'd held his breath as he looked at his brother's limp body, a shield for Angela's body as she struggled beneath him. And then it hit him. The horseman hadn't collected him. Dean's head was still firmly on his shoulders. Not worrying about anything else at the moment other than the fact that his brother was indeed alive, Sam had turned him over, rolling him off of Angela so he could check him over and at the same time release her from Dean's weight.

Dean had peered up at him with unfocused eyes, and he blinked sluggishly at Sam a small frown forming between his eyebrows as if he was trying to focus on where he was. Sam had begun to look him over to see if he could see anything wrong with him. And then he'd seen the blood. It was everywhere.

The front of Dean's shirt and his right sleeve were gory with it and Sam's heart had stopped. Too terrified to even breathe Sam had looked desperately at his brother's face, wondering if these were the last moments they were going to have together. If the horseman, while not adding Dean to his collection, had taken him from Sam after all.

Dean was unresponsive to his desperate cries of his name and seemed to be having an out of body experience even though he was conscious. Either that or he was trapped in his own body and was floundering around inside trying to remember how to control it. That was when Jean showed up.

Sam was relieved to have someone else there to help him. And it was at that point that Angela seemed to come to herself and fell apart. The reality of what had just happened sank in and she began to sob piteously. Jean tried to comfort her while Sam focused on Dean. And then at long last Dean seemed to see him and he called his name.

With Dean responsive Sam was easily able to assess what he needed to look at. A broken rib and a wounded arm. He'd set the rib easily enough and he'd clamped one of his hands around the deepest part of the wound on Dean's arm that he could, but he knew he was in trouble when he saw it. The wound was deep and was bleeding profusely. Even in what little light there was Sam could see how white his brother's face was. He knew that Dean needed better care than what he could provide but he also knew how Dean would feel if Sam took him to the hospital. So against his better judgment he'd helped his brother up and to their cabin.

Dean had stayed with him until they got to the cabin door. Sam had released his clamp like hold on Dean's wound to open the door and he'd been alarmed at the amount of blood that began to flow at once. Dean lifted one leg to step into the room and then his face had gone deathly pale, his eyes had rolled back into his head and he'd fallen forward. If Sam hadn't been standing right there he wouldn't have caught him.

Dean hadn't responded when Sam had desperately called out his name and Sam had carried him to the bedroom and had gently laid him on the bed before hurrying for the first aid kit.

Sam brushed his brother's cheek to check his temperature, still too warm. If Dean's temperature didn't come down within the hour he'd haul him to the hospital himself. Dean's opinion be damned. He'd deal with the wrath later. He peeled back the bandages on Dean's arm.

The wound itself was strange. It was almost as if the sword had been burning hot because part of Dean's wound had almost been cauterized. The skin was blistered and angry red, only the deepest part of the wound still bled. From the looks of it the horseman had gotten the tip of his sword in at the crook of Dean's elbow and had slashed in a strange slightly curved direction, which made it go almost all the way around Dean's arm. Sam assumed that he had only gotten Dean at a glancing blow when Dean had leapt for Angela, which was probably a good thing or Dean might have been without an arm.

Sam frowned as the stitches Sam had used to tie the wound shut dissolved again. He was starting to get desperate. The stitches never seemed to last more than a few hours, as if the temperature was too hot for the stitching thread to tolerate. But that seemed impossible. Sam pulled the first aid kit from the dresser and reached in to pull out the sterilized needle and thread again when he paused. He looked at the wound again.

The puffy red and blistered skin around the wound was still the same, but there was a slight difference at the crook of Dean's elbow. The bleeding had slowed to a slight trickle and the blood had begun to coagulate and the skin had begun to blister like the rest of the skin surrounding the wound already had. Almost as if Sam had pressed the tip of a hot blade against it. Sam reached for the burn cream instead and gently covered the entire wounded area with it. Then he rebandaged it and slid Dean's arm under the covers.

"How's he doing?" Jean asked from the doorway.

Sam turned in surprise he hadn't even heard the front door open. Jean looked disheveled her brown hair was in a ponytail but several long brown locks hung loose from the tie and drifted around her face. Her shirt was wrinkled at the waist as if she'd been scrunching the material in her fists. Her face was pale and her eyes worried.

"He hasn't woken up yet. Wound seems to be burned really bad." Sam frowned as he looked at her.

Jean sighed and brushed a few strands of hair away from her face. "Ambulance just took Kari's body away, Angela went with them. She's going to be staying in the hospital for a few days. The paramedics think she's in shock." She took a step into the room, but hesitated, studying Sam thoughtfully. "Should we call them back for Dean?"

Sam shook his head. His brother would not be happy if he woke up to find himself in the hospital. Besides what would they tell them that would explain Dean's wound? Or the fact that it seemed to be cauterizing itself?

"Sam, I'm really sorry about all of this if you want a refund I'll understand."

Sam bit his lip. He had almost depleted his card of its funds in paying for their short stay at this place and as Dean had always said credit card fraud wasn't easy, it got harder every time they applied for one. But he knew for a fact that they had two new cards on the way, and they could always hustle a few games when they got out of town so they wouldn't be short on cash...

"No thanks," he said finally as he looked over his shoulder at her. He could see the stress practically bleeding from her pores. Her face was almost as pale as Dean's and Sam hated to think what she and her family were going through. With two people killed on the ranch in such a short time the police were bound to suspect something.

"Ben and May checked out this morning first thing. Guess no one wants to stay after last night." Jean ran a weary hand over her face. "It's strange but we really do seem to be cursed here."

"Do you mean the other girl that died out here?" Sam asked.

"So you heard about Tish? Yeah she used to do therapy riding here. It was her doctor's idea. Riding helps works the muscles in your legs and back so he thought it'd be good for her. She was in a really bad car accident a few years ago that left her basically paralyzed from the waist down. When she first came here she was so quiet and shy she didn't say anything to anyone. She was afraid of the horses too," Jean laughed a little as she remembered although tears of sadness filled her eyes. "After a few weeks we put her up on Buck and that was when she really started to come out of her shell. She started to talk to us and really get involved in Buck's care and seemed to really enjoying being with him. She asked if she could come down and ride more often and we told her she was welcome whenever she wanted. But I didn't even know that she came that night. She didn't stop up at the house at all, and we didn't hear her leave the barn. We found Buck the next morning standing next to the stable reins in a tangle around his legs, his knees were badly skinned up, I guess he tripped, and his saddle was still on. He was covered in sweat and when we tried to get close to him he would toss his head and snort. Then he'd run away his eyes wide and his ears pressed back against his head. It was if he was afraid of us. He eventually calmed down enough for us to catch him, but he's been different. He used to be our best beginner's horse, now we can barely get close enough to feed him. He charges at us it's so strange."

"What about Stephen? Didn't he say something about seeing something when he went looking for that mare?"

"Oh, that," Jean said with a sad smile. "It's just a story really. He never saw a headless horseman."

"Is there any truth to the legend? The headless horseman I mean?"

"My Grandfather would tell me the legend of the headless horseman when I was a little girl. He's the one who gave me the ranch. He always said that I'd better believe what he was telling me because if I wasn't careful the horseman would come and add my head to his collection. He swore that the head was still buried somewhere on the property but he didn't know where." Jean frowned and cocked an eyebrow at him. "It's just a myth, Sam. A ghost story that's been passed along my family line for as long as I can remember. No one actually believes in these things. Ghosts don't exist."

Sam bit back his retort knowing that it wouldn't get him anywhere. He wondered what the police where making out of Tish and Kari's deaths.

Jean looked at him quietly for a minute and then glanced at Dean, still sleeping and covered in sweat on the bed. She had the feeling that Sam wanted to be alone with his brother. "If you need anything don't hesitate to let us know."

Sam forced a smile and nodded once then turned back to Dean. Dean was lying just as still as before. His face and neck covered in a fine layer of sweat and his lips parted slightly. Sam could hear the soft exhales of Dean's breathing. He placed his hand on his brother's chest just over his heart and felt the organ beating beneath his fingers.

"Dean, can you hear me?" Sam whispered but silence was his only answer.

He was first aware of the birds singing outside the window. Their cheerful chirping grated on his ears and made him scrunch up his eyes as he longed to fall back into his dreamless sleep. Then he bolted upright and blinked around him, bringing the rest of the world back into focus.

He'd fallen asleep! He'd been on watch and he'd taken a nap. Sam's eyes immediately fell to his brother and he felt his insides clench.

Dean's mouth was slightly open, his lips dry and chapped. His face and neck were coated in sweat and his face was flushed with fever. His eyes rolled rapidly underneath his closed lids and his fingers curled and uncurled around the comforter, his legs shifting, almost struggling underneath the covers. Sam placed a hand on his brother's brow and frowned at the warmth he felt there.

Dean's eyelids fluttered and Sam drew in a sharp breath waiting. Dean's mouth closed and he seemed to be fighting himself internally before finally his eyelids peeled back for a half a second before closing again.

"Dean?" Sam asked quietly as he slid his hand down to his brother's pale cheek, cupping it in the palm of his hand. Dean didn't respond.

Sam pulled back the covers and gently pulled away the bandage from Dean's wounded arm, fearing the worst. He barely suppressed his gasp of surprise. The blisters were smaller, the red swollen skin didn't seem so swollen and the wound had finished cauterizing itself completely so that only a puckered ugly red line ran from Dean's elbow all the way around his arm. The dry blood on the bandage made it stick to Dean's skin at some places but the wound had closed.

Sam reached for the burn cream on the dresser and applied it gently to the red skin around Dean's wound, his eyes occasionally flicking up his brother's face. But Dean remained quiet and still. His jaw would tighten and relax, the muscles tensed and released, it was as if even unconscious Dean could feel Sam's ministrations. Sam redressed the wound quickly and went to replace the room temperature water with cool water and a fresh cloth.

Sam filled the bowl in the bathroom sink, then splashed the cool water on his own face, running his wet hands through his hair and slicking it away from his eyes. The chestnut locks clung together and tangled in small clumps.

Sam took the last clean washcloth from the rack and went back to his brother. He sat down on the edge of the bed, his waist resting against Dean's hip, hoping that the physical contact between them would help bring Dean back to him. Would let Dean know that he was there. That he wasn't going to leave him.

Dean's brow furrowed when the cool cloth came into contact with his hot skin and he instinctively turned away from the cold, his teeth snapping shut and his jaw clenched tight. Sam shifted against his brother and ran the cool cloth down Dean's face and neck, feeling some hope when Dean tried to pull away from him.

"Take it easy, Dean," Sam soothed as he remoistened the cloth and ran it over the other side of Dean's face. "Just gotta get your temperature down, bro."

"'S...cold," Dean muttered his teeth chattering a little.

"It might feel cold, Dean. But that's just because you're so hot." Sam said quietly, he lifted his free hand to rest it on the top of Dean's head, something he knew Dean would never allow were he fully conscious. Dean seemed to lean into his touch and settled there, his brow still furrowed and his jaw still clenched but he was quiet.

A soft rapping on the front cabin door made Sam pause. A glance at the bedside alarm clock told him it was quarter to ten, well past breakfast time up at the ranch. His brow furrowed and he bit his lip, unsure if he really wanted to leave Dean to go answer the door. The rapping came again, louder this time. Sam sighed quietly to himself, placed the cloth back into the water and pulled the blankets up around Dean's shoulders. Then he quietly stepped from the room closing the door behind him.

He wasn't quite sure who to expect at this time. He knew that Jean and her family would be out taking care of the horses, either mucking out or exercising them. So he opened the cabin door a crack and peered outside.

Two police officers were waiting, one of them with a pad and pen in his hand. Sam knew what they must be here for. To get their statements on what had happened. He was sure that Jean had told them that they'd witnessed the whole thing and with Angela too out of it to come up with anything that the officers could make sense of they'd have to ask Sam or Dean for what they had witnessed. With another quick backwards glance at the bedroom door, and quick silent prayer that his brother would stay unconscious until the officers left Sam pulled open the front door doing his best to fix a puzzled expression on his face.

"Good morning, Sir," said one of the officers pleasantly, even though his face remained grim and his eyes empty. "We hate to bother you but we were hoping that you'd have a minute that we could talk to you and your brother about what happened out here a couple nights ago?"

Sam shot another glance at the bedroom door then turned back to the officers. "My brother isn't feeling very well..." Sam tried to keep his voice as polite as he could, which he was finding difficult to do considering how stressed he was feeling. Ever since St. Louis talking to the cops had been risky, they couldn't afford for the officers to recognize Dean's face or pictures from the data base.

"It'll only take a few minutes," said the officer with the pad of paper. He looked down his slightly crooked nose at Sam and cocked his head to the side, as if he remembered him from somewhere and couldn't place him to the memory.

Sam shifted uncomfortably. "He isn't conscious," he finally admitted, seeing no point in lying about the fact that Dean couldn't talk to the officers even if he'd wanted to.

Both cops raised their eyebrows in surprise. The first officer glanced over his shoulder at his partner, who nodded slightly, before turning back to Sam. "Can we just talk to you then. We can get your brother's statement later."

Sam nodded and opened the door wide enough for the officers to step in. He felt the muscles in his stomach tighten convulsively and fought the urge to be sick. Instead he forced a smile and offered the couch to the officers while he hurried to the bedroom to grab the chair that Jean had brought in for him so he could sit next to Dean.

Dean was still out of it when Sam entered the room, a fresh sweaty sheen lightly covered his face. Sam felt his head automatically and frowned at the heat he felt there. Then he grabbed the chair and hurried out of the room. The sooner he got this over with the sooner he could get back to Dean.

He set the chair down in front of the officers and sat in it, trying to look as casual and comfortable as possible. "So what did you want to know?"

"You are here vacationing with your brother, correct?" One of the officer's, whose name badge said Ryans on it.

"Yes," Sam nodded. "We just got here a few days ago."

"And you were there when the attack happened?" Ryans' partner asked, Sam had a harder time reading his badge but he thought he made out Miles.

"Yeah, it was our second night. My brother wasn't feeling very good so we were heading back to the cabin. It was pretty dark outside so it was hard to see much." That part was true, with all the heavy thick clouds the night had been dark, if his hunter senses weren't so used to such conditions he doubted he would have seen much of anything that had happened.

"So you didn't see the girls leaving their cabin?" Officer Miles pressed his face contorted into a frown as if he didn't buy what Sam was telling him.

"My brother and I had just left the campfire when both Angela and Kari left their cabin. Kari had a bag with her and seemed really upset. Jean's son Stephen had been telling us ghost stories and it had really scared her. She wanted to go home. Angela was upset because Kari was leaving and was trying to get her to stay."

"And after that?" Officer Ryans asked.

"I'm not quite sure it happened really fast," Sam said biting his lip as he tried to come up with a good cover story.

Officer Miles frowned at him. "Angela Parks said that the power went out and then a phantom horse and rider appeared. That it chased down Miss Kari Davies and cut off her head."

"I heard the horse," Sam said after a minute, "and I heard Kari scream a minute later."

"Did you see the horse or rider? Was it perhaps someone from the ranch here?" Officer Ryans leaned forward on the couch, his elbows resting on his knees as he looked at Sam intently.

Sam shook his head. "No, like I said it was too dark to see anything clearly. I don't know what happened after Kari screamed until I saw what looked like a man on his horse and he was galloping towards Angela. My brother was right there next to her and tackled her before whoever it was could hurt her too. The guy took off pretty fast after that."

Officer Miles flipped his notepad closed and slipped it into a pocket. Officer Ryans leaned back again. "Kari's head was missing, and we haven't been able to find it. The strange thing is that when the body was examined the neck wound looked like it had been cauterized. There wasn't even any blood on the ground."

"So whatever was used to remove her head had to be hot?" Sam guessed, his own suspicions confirmed.

"That's our working theory." Officer Ryans said and he pushed down on his knees, using the leverage to stand. Officer Miles copied him and Sam followed suit. "Thank you for your time. Please let your brother know that we'll need a statement from him when he wakes up as well."

Sam nodded and showed the officers the door. Trying not to appear too relieved. But he breathed a sigh of relief when the officers got into their cruiser and started slowly down the drive.

Sam hurried back down the hall to his brother. He felt relief wash over him when he pushed open the bedroom door and found Dean struggling to sit up. His brother was still pale and covered in sweat but his eyes weren't as glassy anymore and the fact that he was awake was more of a relief than what Sam had been expecting.

"Hey," Sam said hurrying over and grabbing his brother's arm to help him sit up.

"I got it." Dean snapped shaking off Sam's hand and struggling to push himself upright. Sam stepped back, worrying his lower lip in his teeth while he watch Dean struggle, every instinct roaring at him to go help him.

Dean grunted a little with the effort then finally leaned back against the headboard, panting slightly and closing his eyes wearily. Sam stepped forward and propped up the pillows behind Dean's back. Dean allowed this, too tired to do it himself and it felt better to have something soft rather than something hard brushing against his aching ribcage. He kept his eyes closed as Sam shifted him to adjust the pillows behind his back and breathed in quick pants. When Sam finally pushed him back against the pillows Dean didn't open his eyes, rather he waited until he could get his breathing under control then finally looked up at his brother.

Sam was watching him carefully, his hazel eyes scanning his brother's face for any sign on how he was feeling.

"I'm fine, Sammy." Dean said automatically as he wrapped an arm around his ribs.

"Yeah, I can see that." Sam retorted as he lifted a hand to rest it on Dean's forehead.

Dean batted it away impatiently. "Dude, personal space."

Sam suppressed a sigh. He sat down on the bed next to Dean's hip and looked at his brother carefully, trying to examine him while trying to pretend he wasn't.

"Take a picture, it'll last longer," Dean snapped. Sam flinched and looked away. Dean immediately felt guilty, but he was hot and his arm burned and his chest protested each inhale. He tried to readjust himself to get in a better position, hoping that it would ease the tension on his ribs. But no relief came. He closed his eyes wearily and focused on taking shallow breaths.

He felt Sam shift on the bed beside him and opened one eye to look at him. Sam wasn't looking at him anymore, he was looking at his clasped hands, at his long fingers twined together, rubbing a callous on his palm with the pad of his thumb.

"Did you get him?" Dean finally asked, breaking the silence between them and redirecting Sam's attention to something besides himself.

"No, he took off after he got you." Sam looked up at him and Dean inhaled sharply without thinking, then winced as the pain registered in his ribs. He curled his uninjured arm tighter around himself and tried to breathe.

"Dean?" Sam asked worriedly, he leaned forward, resting one hand on Dean's thigh while the other reached for his shoulder but Dean shrugged him off again.

"Dude, get off me." Dean said in between pants he scowled at his little brother and forced himself to take steadier breaths, to force his body back under his control. "How's Angela?"

Sam lifted one shoulder and dropped it quickly in a lopsided shrug. "She's still in the hospital I think. The paramedics thought that she was going into shock so they took her with them." Dean closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the headboard then opened his eyes again slowly and blinked up at the ceiling.

"They still haven't been able to find Kari's head." Sam said quietly.

"They're not going to." Dean muttered just as quietly. His eyes drifted slowly to his brother and locked there for a minute before returning to the ceiling. "This bastard is stock piling them somewhere. The cops aren't going to find them because they don't know where to start looking."

Sam felt an uneasy churning in his stomach at the thought of this ghost having a pile of heads somewhere, just like he had in the movie. _The movie!_

"Dean!" Sam shouted so loud that Dean jumped, then hissed in pain. "Sorry," Sam apologized but he couldn't help the excitement in his eyes. "Dean, the movie! The tree in the movie!"

"What about it?"

"In the movie the dead tree was a portal for the headless horseman to travel through, kind of like a gateway to the underworld wasn't it? And that's where he kept all his victims heads right?"

"I guess so. What's your point?"

"What if it's the same thing here? What if the curse makes the horseman copy everything that the one in the movie does? I mean even in the movie wasn't his blade supposed to be super hot?"

Dean frowned and dropped his eyes to his knees, his eyes darting back and forth in concentration for a minute before he looked at his brother. "Yeah it was. In fact in the movie whenever Icaabod Crane went to examine the bodies there was never any blood, as if the blade that had cut off the heads had been so hot it had cauterized the neck as it sliced off the head."

"Exactly!" Sam couldn't suppress his excitement now. "Dean, when the cops stopped by earlier they told me that there wasn't any blood anywhere near the body, and I'm guessing that it was the same with this Tish girl." Sam stood up and ran both of his hands through his hair, pushing the chestnut locks away from his face as he paced up and down between the beds.

"That'd also explain your arm," Sam said almost to himself. "It seemed impossible but in the movie..." He trailed off and stopped his pacing, turning to look at his brother then sat down quickly beside Dean's hip again. "Dean, when the horseman cut you did the blade feel hot?"

"I don't know, Sam," Dean admitted he looked down at his bandaged arm and grimaced as he remembered the burning sensation of the pain he'd felt after the horseman had cut him.

"That'd explain the fever too," Sam said, again almost to himself. "In the movie the horseman cuts Icaabod when he tries to stop the horseman from killing Brom. But the horseman isn't after Icaabod or Brom, he just attacks them because they go after him. So at first he doesn't aim to kill them, just to get them to back off, but Brom keeps fighting so the horseman kills him."

"I didn't watch the DVD, Sam, the horseman isn't after me."

"The weird thing is, Dean, when I shot him with the rock salt it barely seemed to faze him."

"Crap, so it's kind of like that Tulsa thing in Texas?"

"That'd be my best guess. But how are we supposed to stop the damn thing? Even if it is tied to the movie if we break the curse by destroying the DVD it could release it and it could go on a killing spree killing everyone."

Dean nodded in agreement. "We can't let that bastard hurt anyone else, Sam. Have you looked up this Casey guy, seen if the story is legit?"

Sam shook his head. "I've been a little busy the past two days, dude."

"Right," Dean said quietly, then suddenly pushed away the covers and swung his legs over the edge of the bed. Before Sam could stop him he had tried to stand up and his knees had immediately buckled beneath him.

"Dean!" Sam shouted as he hurried around the bed to catch his brother. He wrapped his arms underneath Dean's armpits, trying hard not to put more strain on his brother's ribs than he had to.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"Need to hit the head, Sam. That ok with you?" Dean snapped a little embarrassed as his legs shook beneath him.

"Oh," Sam said feeling a little awkward and feeling the color fill his cheeks. "Right, come on." He gently wrapped one arm around Dean's waist and helped his brother hobble from the room, taking on as much weight as Dean would let him, feeling more and more of it as they progressed the short distance to the bathroom.

"I got it," Dean said shaking Sam off once they reached the bathroom door. Sam felt a little relieved, being spared an awkward situation with his brother in the bathroom. He waited just outside, leaning against the wall, his eyes closed his ears open.

A few minutes later he heard the sink running and he opened his eyes again. Thankful that Dean hadn't passed out in there.

"Sam," Dean's voice was strained and even from here Sam couldn't mistake the pain barely masked by Dean's tone. He twisted the knob and was grateful that Dean hadn't locked it.

Dean was leaning against the sink, his arms trembling with the effort he was using to keep himself upright, his injured arm already starting to buckle under his weight.

"I gotcha," Sam said as he gently wrapped his arm around his brother's waist again and helped him step away from the sink. He heard Dean inhale sharply and grimaced in sympathy, sure that Dean was putting on the heroic act for his sake. He was sure that it was taking a Herculean effort for Dean to keep up this front.

It only took them a couple minutes to get back to the bedroom and Sam helped Dean lie back down, concern wrinkling his brow when Dean didn't even protest. Instead Dean lay quietly for a few minutes, focused only on bringing air in and out of his lungs. Then he opened his eyes and they were glassy with pain.

Sam pulled out the bottle of Aspirin from the first aid kit and palmed four of them, handing them to Dean, but before he could hand him the bottle of water Dean had tossed them into his mouth and dry swallowed them. Then Dean closed his eyes again, waiting for the painkillers to take effect.

After a few minutes he opened his eyes again. "You need to look up this Casey guy, Sam. See if he really existed. If he did then we are gonna have to find the head. In the movie Miranda Richardson's character was controlling the damn thing because she was using witch craft and had his head. If this really is like the movie, then the curse will have to be combined with the head, which means someone is sending the horseman after these people, and it won't be long before they send him out again."

"Well then," Sam said quietly as he reached for his leather satchel with his laptop in it. "Well have to figure out a way to stop him before they do."


	3. Chapter 3

I apologize for the long delay with this story - real life really hit me hard the past few months and I forgot to post this story here. I have it finished though, so I'll post some of it now and the last of it next weekend if I have the time. By the 3rd of October for sure and again I apololgize for the delay.

A little warning for the upcoming chapters - they can be a little graphic and bloody this story was darker than I had originally planned it - if any of you have see Tim Burton's Sleepy Hollow you'll know what I mean by that. I don't own Supernatural or Sleepy Hollow just borrowed them both for this story.

* * *

**Chapter 3**

Dean stayed in bed for the better part of the next day, but soon began to get restless and had gotten out of his bed late into the afternoon. He'd stumbled into the bathroom to take a hot shower, and had seemed a bit more like himself when he'd emerged. He still kept an arm wrapped protectively around his damaged ribs, but he walked taller, and his face was set in determination rather than pain.

Sam tapped his fingers impatiently against the coffee table while he stared at the laptop screen.

"You find anything?" Dean asked as he joined his brother in the living room. He saw a fresh pot of coffee and two mugs, one already haven been taken, and grinned. He poured himself a cup of the hot brew and joined his brother on the couch.

"The horseman doesn't have a specific name mentioned in any of the legends." Sam said as he lifted his mug to take a hearty swig of the hot brew. "But I did find record of a Casey Brewen."

"Casey Brewen?"

"Yeah, he wasn't easy to find because not too much is actually known about the guy. The only thing I can see is that he actually lived in the time the horseman was around until he mysteriously disappeared around the time the horseman was murdered. There are no records of him anywhere."

"Do you think he's our spook?"

"Could be. But even if he is, Dean, how are we supposed to find the head? It could be buried anywhere on the land."

"In the movie," Dean said frowning at the floor and gently rubbing his thigh. "Miranda Richardson had the head, sent the horseman after people she had a grudge against. People who were in the way of something." He looked up at Sam who looked simply puzzled. "Is there someone who would hold a grudge here? Someone who would want to kill off the guests?"

Sam shook his head. "Not that I can see, the only people here are Jean and Randy and their boys. They depend on the guests to keep this place going I don't think they'd want to kill them."

"Anyone else?" Dean asked.

Sam closed his laptop and frowned at his brother. "What are you getting at, Dean?"

"I'm just saying that this doesn't make sense. If the killer is killing people by sending the horseman after the people who come to the ranch and watch the DVD what's the point, other than just killing? There's no motivation behind it unless it's buried deep. An old grudge maybe, or something they want to happen. My best guess would be that they want this place closed down. Now either it's someone on the outside or it's someone on the inside."

"So you think it's Jean? Or Randy?" Sam asked incredulously.

"No, it's just..." Dean trailed off and rubbed his forehead wearily as though trying to rub away a headache. "I don't know, Sam."

"Well, if we are gonna stop this thing we're gonna have to figure out where that head is so we can destroy it, otherwise we're gonna risk releasing this thing once we've destroyed the DVD."

"In the movie the horseman always came out of that dead tree right?" Dean asked standing up swiftly and pacing back and forth across the small room.

"Yeah I guess so," Sam said slowly.

Dean nodded to himself, not seeming to have heard Sam. "The same place where he kept the victims heads. If we could find the tree..." He stopped and stared hard at a spot on the floor, as if trying to see through it.

He turned back abruptly to Sam his face tight with anxiety but lit from within with determination. "The horses, we can take them anywhere on the ranch right? Take them out for a ride on the trails?"

"Dean, you aren't seriously thinking about getting back up on a horse are you?"

"Hey, I don't like the idea myself. But what other choice do we have?"

Sam clenched his jaw and balled his hands into fists. "I can't believe you. You spent the better part of three days in bed, most of it unconscious I might add, and now you think you're gonna stroll out of here get on a horse and go off on some trail ride?"

"Sam, we don't have a choice here. One of the other guests has already been marked, how long do you think it's gonna take for the horseman to come back and find her? She might not be here right now but she's gonna have to come back sometime to get her stuff, or else the horseman might just go find her at the hospital. He isn't bound to the land, Sam, he's bound to the curse and she's still a part of it."

Sam felt his stomach tighten and he had to swallow back some of the bile he felt creeping up his throat. He knew Dean was right but that didn't make him any happier about the fact that his stubborn mule headed and injured brother was about to get back onto a horse, not in the safety of a ring but on one of the dark and foreboding trails.

Dean seemed to have sensed that he had won and he looked triumphantly down at Sam, trying to appear as fit as he could while shooting Sam a cocky grin. "So, when do we leave?"

* * *

The black and white appaloosa stood patiently by the fence, his reins draped over his neck and his eyes half closed as the hot sun bore down on the trio. Jean was anxiously twisting a lock of her hair with her fingers while shifting her weight from one foot to the other. She bit her lip as she watched Dean walked around to the saddle, then lift his leg into the stirrup and haul himself over the horse's broad back almost as if he'd been doing it his whole life.

Jesse, Jean's quiet and shy son, had volunteered to take the brothers out on the trail. Not that Jean had approved, but Sam had insisted upon their behalf.

Ranger shifted under Dean's weight and snorted, blowing nosily out of his nose. Dean patted the horse's neck nervously then picked up the reins tightly, twisting the leather around his white fingers. Ranger tossed his head and snorted again, shifting his weight slightly and flattened his ears.

"Take it easy, Dean." Jean cautioned stepping forward and unwinding the reins from around Dean's fingers. "Hold them like I showed you, like you're holding two ice creams." She corrected his hold on the reins and Ranger instantly relaxed again, dipping his head to sniff at a few tasty looking weeds.

Jesse was outside of the gate turning his mount, a rather impressive and muscular bay, around in a tight circle, quickly changing directions and repeating the process so that the horse's muscles were warmed up on each side.

Sam was watching his brother silently from where he sat on Ebony's back. The mare swished her tail lazily and occasionally chomped at the bit.

"Ok, now you remember how to make him go? And how to change directions?" Jean asked as she adjusted Dean's stirrups so that they fit his legs a little more comfortably.

Dean nodded and nudged Ranger's sides with his heels. The gelding immediately responded, moving forward in a slow easy walk, that gently rocked Dean from side to side in the saddle. He looked to the right and gently pulled on the right rein directing Ranger in the right direction then repeated it with the left, Ranger responded easily and Dean seemed to relax a little in the saddle.

"Good," Jean said from the fence as she watched him work the gentle horse. "Ok, you boys ready to head out then?"

Dean pulled up on the reins and Ranger stopped. Despite how nervous he was he forced himself to remain calm. He nodded to Jean and waited for her to open the gate for them. Sam and Ebony led the way, with Dean nudging Ranger out behind them.

Jesse was waiting for them, his bay mount breathing heavily but looking rather excited to be going out on the trail. Jesse backed his mount up a couple steps then clicked and pressed into the horse's left side with his heel and the horse instantly turned on the spot, so they were now facing the right direction. Then he clucked again eagerly and urged the bay into a brisk trot.

Jean folded her arms across her chest and dug her fingernails into the soft skin of her arms as she watched first Sam then Dean copy him, and all three of them disappeared as they hit a bend in the trail.

* * *

Dean was having his misgivings as soon as Ranger picked up a brisk trot, eager to keep up with the other horses. He was having a hard time keeping his seat, and had grabbed onto the saddle horn to stop himself from falling off like he had the last time he'd gone faster than a walk. In front of him Ebony's long black tail swished around her bottom and her feet kicked up stones that occasionally hit Ranger, which would make him shy and snort. Dean found that particularly scary because every time Ranger shied Dean's balance became precarious and he'd grip as tight as he could with his legs and onto the saddle horn.

On the third occasion that this happened, Ranger picked up into a faster gate that made Dean forget the reins all together as he clung to the saddle horn with one hand and a chunk of Ranger's mane with the other. The horse had charged forward, easily passing Ebony who'd spooked and reared up for an instant before dropping down and snorting.

Jesse turned in his saddle, and had held up a hand towards Ranger. "Whoa!" He shouted firmly.

Ranger dug his front hooves into the ground and came to a stop, nearly dislodging Dean in the process.

"You alright?" Jesse asked as he brought his gelding closer to Ranger. He patted the appaloosa's neck gently then dismounted his horse and untangled Ranger's reins then handed them back to a white-faced Dean.

Dean felt himself nod although he wasn't conscious of actually making the gesture.

Jesse grinned up at him. "Better take it easy there, dude."

Sam caught up with them, his face just as white as Dean's. "Dean?"

"I'm..." Dean said breathy whisper. "I'm fine, Sammy." He said again although he was sure that he had convinced no one.

Sam frowned at him then looked at Jesse. Jesse was frowning in concern at Dean, then he glanced back down the trail, as if wondering to himself if he shouldn't just take them back now.

Dean seemed to have seen the same thing because he straightened himself up in the saddle and firmly held the reins as Jean had instructed, a little of the color returned to his cheeks. "Seriously, I'm fine." He repeated in a firmer voice.

Jesse didn't look convinced but could see that these two were determined to go on. "Alright," he said slowly as he looked Dean up and down one last time before getting back on his own mount. "Let's keep going."

Sam decided to take up the rear this time, that way he could keep an eye on Dean and make sure that his stubborn brother wasn't about to take another swan dive. Dean didn't seem to notice, he was too busy concentrating on maintaining control of his horse.

"Hey, Jesse," Sam called making their guide pull back on the reins and slow his mount a little. "You know these trails pretty well?"

"I practically grew up on the back of a horse. These trails were my backyard, so yeah I know them pretty well."

"You ever see anything strange while you were on them?" Sam pressed.

"Strange?" Jesse asked as he ducked under some low hanging branches. "What do you mean? Like the headless horseman?" He laughed and patted the bay's neck.

Dean forced a laugh too and hoped it didn't sound too strained. "No, just like anything out of the ordinary. Weird markings maybe? Or a dead tree?"

Jesse pulled up short and his bay stomped and pawed at the ground agitatedly. He looked a little excited as he turned back to look at the brothers. "As a matter of fact I have seen something like that." He said his voice quivering a little in his excitement. "I never told anyone before because it was just too strange but if you guys want to see it..."

"Yeah, absolutely!" Sam agreed quickly.

Jesse immediately dug his heels into the bay's sides and leaned closer to the horse's neck. "Follow me," he yelled back over his shoulder as the bay took off into a full gallop.

"Oh you've gotta be kidding' me." Dean groaned as the bay's long black tail disappeared in a cloud of dirt.

"Come on, Dean, we've gotta keep up." Sam encouraged. He tightened his reins and immediately Ebony shifted beneath him, her muscles coiled and ready for the faster gate. Her ears pricked forward and she shifted eagerly. Sam remembered Jess tell him that horses were competitive and loved to race each other, so if one horse started to run, the others would soon chase after him, eager to beat him. Sam sat deep in the saddle and looked at his brother.

Dean was sitting like a stone, staring at the reins while Ranger shifted impatiently underneath him. Sam felt a pang of indecision. "Dean, do you wanna head back? I can go see whatever it is Jesse's found."

Dean shook his head and tightened up his reins, Ranger bobbed his head and nickered.

"Sit deep in the saddle." Sam instructed.

"I can't sit deep, Sam." Dean snapped angrily as he glared at his brother. "My butt is already in the saddle it's not like the saddle is sinking here."

"Just readjust your seat until you are as deep as you can possibly get in the saddle." Sam instructed again very patiently. He waited while Dean shifted a little and Sam saw him slide his feet a little deeper into the stirrups. "Dean, just keep the ball of your foot in the stirrups, you don't want your foot to slip through and get stuck. If it does and you get thrown you'll be dragged."

Dean huffed irritably and readjusted his feet, feeling very vulnerable without something solid beneath his feet to help him stay balanced.

"Good, now gather you reins, lean close to his neck and kick him with your heels." Sam said as he too readjusted his position so as soon as Dean took off he could be right behind him.

Dean leaned forward and kicked Ranger's sides with his heels. The gelding immediately responded and took off into a gallop, Sam did the same and Ebony took off right after him.

The wind stung his eyes and made it impossible to breathe through his nose. Dean opened his mouth to breathe, hoping no bug was stupid enough to fly into it. His tongue immediately went dry and he tried to swallow but found the simple task almost impossible. The trees rushed past him in a blur of color and he felt the horrible sensation of briefly lifting out of the saddle before settling back into it again with each shift of Ranger's body.

He could hear Ebony's hooves right behind him and knowing that Sam was close made him feel a little bit better. He kept his face close to Ranger's neck, hoping that the closer proximity would help him keep his balance, he'd grab onto the damn thing's neck if he had to.

The trail came to a bend and when they had turned it they saw the trail branched off in several directions. Jesse was waiting for them from the trail off to the left. When he saw the brothers he grinned and kicked the bay into a gallop again, urging him forward and into a shallow stream a few yards ahead.

Water sprayed up and around horse and rider making him almost invisible for a second. Dean's stomach did a nervous flip but Ranger dove into the water without hesitation, kicking up pebbles and water as he hit the deepest part before pulling himself out and galloping off after Jesse and the bay, his nose high in the air as he surged forward. He could hear Ebony's hooves as she too found her way out of the stream and galloped thunderously to catch up with them.

As they entered the cover of the trees Dean was surprised to find himself moving with Ranger's gate rather than sitting stiffly in the saddle. He found that Ranger's gait had a rhythm. A four beat rhythm that he could easily keep in time with. He could feel his heart beating in time with the rhythm as they galloped down the trail. He leaned closer to Ranger's neck and leaned forward against the saddle horn. His body swayed gently with the gait, but instead of being afraid he suddenly found it invigorating.

"It's just up ahead," Jesse shouted over his shoulder at them.

Sam felt a wave of relief but as he glanced at his brother he couldn't hide the shock on his face. Dean was grinning. Sam's mouth popped open in surprise and he momentarily lost his balance, and had to grab onto Ebony's mane to keep his seat.

Jesse pulled up abruptly, kicking up a spray of dirt and rocks. Dean pulled back on the reins and Ranger too stopped, his sides heaving a little and some foam forming in the corners of his mouth. He chomped at the bit and lowered his head sniffing at a few pieces of tall grass that blew gently in the light breeze.

Sam pulled Ebony to a halt beside Ranger and quickly dismounted. Dean swung his leg over Ranger's back and easily dropped to the ground. His legs were a little stiff, and he discovered that he couldn't press his legs together, he was even more bowlegged than he had been before. He decided to ignore that as Jesse took out a few lead ropes and handed one to him and Sam.

"Hook these to your horse's halter and tie him to a tree. Don't ever use the reins because if they spook and pull it can really damage their mouths. Hollywood is never very accurate on horse care." Jesse explained as he clipped the lead onto his mount's halter and tied him to the closest tree. The bay immediately dropped his head down and plucked a few blades of the long grass.

Dean and Sam tied their horses and then followed Jessed down a very narrow trail. They had to watch where they stepped as the trail was uneven and often hid a large dip or stone underneath the tall grass.

"One of our foals got loose a couple of months ago," Jesse said as he led the way. "I tracked him down here and found him under this tree." He lifted a few low branches for the brothers and they found themselves in a small shaded meadow. The tall grass was still lush and full around the outer edges, but as you got closer to the middle they were brown and dead, a few flowers had shriveled up and then the ground was nothing but dirt that surrounded the roots of a tall tree with long bare branches that touched the ground.

Dean stepped towards the tree, Sam followed him, both of them scanning for signs they were familiar with. A few dead leaves crunched under their boots as they approached the ancient dead tree. Dean rapped gently on the aged wood with his knuckles and stepped back to look up at the dead tree's large branches. Sam had crouched and had picked up a handful of soil, letting the earth run between his fingers.

"This is the only tree like this around here," Jesse said stepping forward and placing a hand on the tree's trunk. "The earth around here is really rich, good for farming and stuff. We've had quite a few offers on the ranch but Mom refuses to take it. She loves the horses too much."

"Do you know what happened here, Jesse?" Dean asked as he walked around to the other side of the tree, scanning the ground.

"No and that's the weird thing. We don't use pesticides out here, and there were no lightning strikes on this tree. If there were you'd see the damage. It's almost like it just died on its own. It wouldn't be weird if we knew it had been sick or old, but it wasn't either. It used to be one of my favorite spots to ride out to on Buck. In fact just a month before the foal got loose this tree had tons of leaves and everything, it was perfectly healthy. Now look at it."

Sam's head snapped up. "Two months ago?"

Jesse nodded. "Yeah it was the weirdest thing."

Sam shot a glance at Dean and saw that he was thinking the same thing he was thinking. Whoever had started these killing had discovered where the horseman's head was two months ago and it wasn't long after that the killings had started.

Dean straightened up, he'd found what he'd been looking for. An upturned plant root stood out of the ground and as his expert eyes continued to scan the area he knew that the hole was easily big enough to hide a human head and still not be easily noticed, unless one knew what to look for. The earth had recently been disturbed, by someone who didn't seem to think that anyone would notice the disturbance.

"We'd better get heading back, it's getting late." Jesse said lightly as Sam brushed the earth from his jeans.

"Sure," Sam agreed easily with a quick glance back at his brother. But then he stopped his brow furrowing. "Dean?"

Dean was scowling at the tree, his forehead crinkled and his eyes fixed on a slight knot in the tree.

"Dean?" Sam asked again walking over to meet him. "What is it?"

"You remember in the movie where the horseman kept his victims' heads?" Dean asked as he peered up at the tall branches stretching towards the sky, his eyes squinted against the sun's glare.

Sam suddenly felt sick as he looked at the knot hole and saw something thick oozing out of it. He looked back to Dean who was looking back at him, rubbing his thumb and forefinger together as though rubbing something off of them. Sam leaned forward and touched the knot hole and felt his stomach lurch as his fingers came into contact with the familiar warm sticky substance.

* * *

"We're gonna have to go back to that tree," Dean said as he ran a dandy brush over Ranger's side, a few loose hairs and dirt drifted to the ground.

"Yeah, but we can't do it right now," Sam agreed as he set down his own dandy brush and picked up the hoof pick. He ran his hand down Ebony's right front leg until he reached her ankle, then he clucked once with his tongue and she easily lifted her foot into the air. Sam used the pick to clean out her hoof, ridding it of dirt and any stones she might have pick up along their ride.

Dean nodded as he patted Ranger's neck. "You're right we're gonna have to go after everyone's asleep tonight."

"Tonight?" Sam promptly let go of Ebony's hoof in surprise and she let it drop back down to the ground. Sam straightened and looked over Ebony's back at his brother. "Are you insane?"

"What?" Dean asked as he tossed the dandy brush into the grooming kit and picked up the body brush. He began to go over Ranger's coat with it, starting on his neck just under the mane.

"Dean, we are not going back out there today." Sam said as he walked to Ebony's back right leg and repeated the process in getting her to lift it.

"Sam, we don't have time to waste here. We need to finish the job so we can get out of here."

Sam scowled as he picked out a stone that had gotten trapped under Ebony's shoe. He gently eased it out then let her drop her foot again. He placed a hand on her back and walked around her rear so that he could clean out her left back leg.

"That is unless you intended to stay. Maybe you prefer shoveling horse manure to hunting." Dean said calmly as he ran the brush over Ranger's flanks.

"That's not what this is about, Dean." Sam snapped as he picked up Ebony's last leg to clean out her hoof.

"Then what is it about, Sam?" Dean said just as hotly, he tossed the body brush into the kit and glared at his brother from over Ranger's back. The gelding tossed his head, a little startled at Dean's sudden change of tone.

"I can't," Sam's voice dropped to almost a whisper and he lifted the back of his hand to press against his eyes for a minute.

"You can't what, Sam?" Dean demanded.

"I can't go through that again, Dean." Sam whispered, barely loud enough for Dean to hear.

Dean clenched his jaw. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"I can't do it again, Dean! Seeing that thing go after you! Seeing you throw yourself right in front of him! What the hell were you thinking anyway?" Sam shouted straightening up and tossing his hoof pick at the wall across from him. It banged loudly and several of the horses in their stalls whinnied and shifted in their stalls. "Do you have any idea what that did to me? To see that son of a bitch swing his sword right above you and then you go down?" Sam turned to Dean his face red and his hands balled into fists. A vein on his neck was popping, only equaled by the vein on his forehead that was throbbing slightly underneath his skin.

"I thought he'd taken you, Dean! I thought I'd lost my brother to that son of a bitch. That your head would be gone! That there would be no way in hell I could fix it this time because you wouldn't even be a whole person anymore! I can't do it again, Dean, I can't." Sam's voice broke slightly as he looked at his brother his large hazel eyes widen and honest and shiny with unshed tears. "I won't." He whispered the rage in his voice gone almost as quickly as it had come.

Dean was stunned into silence. It was rare to see Sam really angry, they'd been back together almost two years now since Dean had picked him up from Stanford. And Dean had never seen him this angry. Not even after John had died. Not after Dean had punched him in the face. Not after discovering that Victor Hendrickson was now hunting them, not even after discovering that Dean had been right about the angel wanna be.

Sam sniffed loudly and rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand again, dislodging the tears there. Then without a backward glance at him he walked out of the stable, leaving Dean and both horses behind him.

* * *

"Hey there, how was your ride?"

Dean looked up from Ranger's last hoof and smiled up at Jean, who was leaning against one of the cross ties posts and was grinning down at him. "Exhilarating."

"I'm sure, not everyone could stay on at a full gallop after only being on a horse once." Jean said with a sly wink.

Dean chuckled and released Ranger's foot and straightened up brushing his hands on his jeans. "Sure gives one an appetite. You bring food?"

"Glad you're feeling better." Jean said easily. "Dinner is in half an hour. Where's Sam?"

"He went back to the cabin I think." Dean said doubtfully as he unclipped Ranger's halter and took him back to his stall. "Think he wanted to grab a nap before we ate."

"Oh," Jean said doubtfully as she watch Dean slide off Ranger's halter and hang it up outside of the stall before closing and locking the stall door. "Ok well we'll see you boys in half an hour then."

Dean nodded then turned away heading towards the cabin and a hot shower. He was definitely feeling the muscle soreness now. The sun was starting to set on the peaks of the mountains as Dean left the barn, the sunset turned the world orange and red and Dean scuffed his boots in the gravel as he made his way slowly to the cabin.

He hadn't realized what it had looked like to Sam when he'd saved Angela from the horseman. He hadn't thought about what he was doing at all, he'd just reacted like he always had. Thrown himself in front of the bullet, stop anyone else from getting hurt. Make his life mean something.

He never admitted that last part to Sam. But he felt that he was in a constant struggle to measure up to it. He wasn't stupid, he knew now that John had made a deal for him after the car accident. He knew that he shouldn't be alive and the only reason he was alive was because it was unnatural. It shouldn't have happened. He should be rotting in the ground right now. He should have stayed dead because if he had John would be alive and Sammy would for sure be safe. John would have saved him. John could have saved Sam from whatever darkness lurked for his brother. But Dean, Dean wasn't sure if he could and that scared him.

Whatever was out there, whatever it was that was coming for them was big. Dean knew that and he knew that John had known that. He knew that Sam was aware of it on some level, but he wasn't sure if Sam knew just how deep they were in it. After his confession about John's last words with Dean, Dean had been more than a little reluctant to talk to his brother about any of this. Sam had left him. Had taken off while his guard was down, while he was sleeping. Had snuck out and left him with no note, nothing. It had made Dean dig into his deepest resources in trying to find the kid.

Sam had been so determined to get away from him then. And it hadn't even been that long ago. Dean just couldn't fathom Sam's anger at him. He wasn't dead and neither was that Angela girl. That was the job. Sam knew that. Saving people, hunting things - that was the family business. No matter what the cost that's what they did.

Dean wasn't blind, he knew that there would be no happy endings for him. As he'd told Sam before there would always be something out there to hunt. Some evil would always be waiting in the shadows. And if there weren't people like them out there to stop them, no one would.

It wasn't as though Dean hadn't realized what the job had cost them. He was well aware of that. Too aware of it at times. And there were days when he wished that John hadn't brought them into this life, hadn't cursed their family, hadn't condemned them to be hunters. To be some kind of hero. And he sure as hell wished that John hadn't dumped what he had dumped on Dean's shoulders before he went off and made the deal with that demon.

No matter how many people Dean saved. No matter how many evil sons of bitches he put down it would never make up for the fact that his life had been saved in exchange for John's soul. That would always be on his head, and he would never be able to make up for that. To live with the knowledge that John was in Hell, literally, burning for ever was more than Dean could bear some most days. Some days he didn't even find it worth it to get out of bed. But always did for Sam's sake. He was drowning and no one was around to pull him out of the water this time. Not even Sam.

Dean pushed open the cabin door and let himself in. The bathroom door was cracked open and the bedroom door was closed. The heat from the shower was still lingering inside the confines of the bathroom, so Dean knew that Sam must have taken a shower not too long before. He hoped that he'd saved him some hot water. A cold shower after all that hard riding wasn't something that Dean really looked forward to.

As he passed the bathroom the bedroom door opened and Sam emerged, his hair still slightly dripping, his clothes sticking to his damp skin, a crumpled up towel held under one arm. He stopped when he saw Dean and quickly dropped his eyes, worrying his lower lip between his teeth.

"Sam," Dean said quietly.

"No, Dean," Sam interrupted lifting his eyes to meet Dean's briefly. "I'm sorry - I shouldn't have gone off like that."

"No, man, I should've done something different. I didn't mean to scare you like that. I wasn't thinking." Dean was not going to let Sam go into a guilt trip over this. It was his decision that had made Sam react like that. Hell, if it had been him in Sam's place he'd have done more than just rip him a new one. He'd have freakin' tied his ass to the bed and made him stay in the cabin while he finished the job alone.

Sam's mouth curled up in a half smile. "I left you some hot water," he said quickly changing the subject so he could let Dean off the emotional chick flick hook.

Dean sighed in relief, for being released from the knowledge of taking a shower and the caring sharing moment that always made him feel awkward. He grinned and cocked a finger at his brother. "Good, cause if you hadn't I'd have had to kick your ass."

"As if you could reach that high." Sam joked as he looked at Dean's legs, which were more bowed than usual. He grinned.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh while you can, Sasquatch." Dean said as he brushed past his brother so he could retrieve some clean clothes from his duffel. "Jean said dinner is in half an hour so go do your hair - that should only take you a decade or two." He snickered and Sam lightly punched him in the shoulder.

Dean grinned as he realized that even though the act was natural Sam was still conscious of Dean's still tender ribs, and for that he was grateful. He quickly kicked off his boots and retrieved some clean clothes before heading to the bathroom.

"Hurry up I'm hungry." Sam called behind him.

"I'll be ready before you are, princess." Dean grinned as Sam turned, picked up a pillow and tossed it at him. Dean closed the bathroom door just in time to avoid the hit.

Dean slowly pulled off his shirt, suppressing the grimace as he worked the material over his arm with the ragged scar the horseman had given him. He tossed the shirt to the corner of the bathroom and looked down at the pink bumpy scar. His finger trailed over it, running against the slightly rough skin. He knew it wouldn't last, scars always faded, soon it would just be a thin white line running just under his elbow. Another souvenir to show off for the chicks. But for Dean it was something else. Another reminder that he was indeed just a human, and no matter how strong a human was they could always fail or fall. This time he'd been lucky and he hadn't failed, and he hoped that it would be the same way when Sam needed him the most. He hoped in that hour that he himself would be the victor of another scar and Sam would be untouched, but he feared that he might not be and then his world would be over.

* * *

Dean swore he could almost hear the table groan under the weight of the food. A steaming pot roast sat in the middle of the table, surrounded by steamed carrots, boiled potatoes, sweet peas, green salad, homemade biscuits, something he wasn't quite sure of that sat in the middle of the table in a clear glass bowl, all he knew was they were little cubes with all the colors of the rainbow, quite literally, and a fruit tray that ranged from apples to oranges with several things in between. Dean's stomach growled as Jean brought out an extra bowl of potatoes just in case.

"Help yourselves," Jean said with a smile as she set the potatoes down on other side of the pot roast. Sam picked up the bowl of green salad and began to dish some onto his plate. Dean helped himself to some of the pot roast, and found the meat so soft and juicy that it fell apart under his fork. He had to stand up and lean across the table in order to get some onto his plate.

Jean handed Dean a bowl of potatoes and he helped himself to a large serving then passed the bowl to Sam.

"Hey, Jean," Sam asked as he tipped some of the potatoes onto his plate. "What's that in the middle?" He pointed to the large clear bowl with the rainbow squares inside it.

"That is my own little Jell-O idea." Jean said proudly as she picked up the clear bowl and spooned some Jell-O onto her plate. "It's rainbow Jell-O as I call it. It has strawberry, orange, lemon, lime, berry blue and grape Jell-O flavors in it."

Dean wrinkled his nose a little. He'd never been a fan of Jell-O, he'd eaten too much of it while he was in the hospital after a hunt gone wrong.

"It's kind of like a fruit blend. It's really good most people who hate Jell-O love this once they've tried it." Jean tried to hand the bowl to Dean but he hesitated.

Sam nudged Dean a little and Dean relented, spooning out as little as he could without hurting Jean's feelings. It made his plate seem really colorful if nothing else. Sam helped himself to a larger portion before passing the bowl along to Jesse.

"So where did you guys go on your ride today?" Asked Randy as he poked a few of boiled potatoes onto the prongs of his fork.

"Down one of the trails." Dean said through a mouthful of pot roast. It was surprisingly juicy and tender. It almost melted in his mouth and it made his stomach growl angrily. The sweet juices made his mouth water and he helped himself to another bite.

"We went on the west trail across the creek." Jesse added helpfully as he used his spoon to pick up some of the Jell-O mixture.

"Ah," Randy said with a smile as he scooped some carrots onto his plate. "Our most popular trail. Did you boys get wet?"

"A little," Dean admitted.

Randy laughed. "Yep, that'll happen on that trail."

Sam scooped up some of his Jell-O and popped it into his mouth, then his eyes widened in surprise. He turned to Dean and nudged him. Dean rolled his eyes a little and reluctantly slid some of Jell-O squares into his mouth. It was surprisingly good, and he felt his eyes widen just as Sam's had.

Jean, it seemed, had been watching them. She laughed. "Do you like it?"

"Wow," Dean said and the Jell-O cubes ran down his throat.

Sam grinned. It didn't take a lot for Dean to be impressed with food, but there were certain kinds of foods that Dean hated just on principle. Jell-O was one of them. Hospitals always seemed to have an endless supply of Jell-O and it was always nasty.

Dean helped himself to another mouthful of the colorful squares. The mixture of flavors was overwhelming and made his taste buds tingle in a strange way that made his insides squirm. But he rather liked it. He eyed the large bowl of rainbow Jell-O still sitting in the middle of the table and swallowed his mouthful. "Do you buy them like that? In the squares I mean?"

Jean laughed. "Oh, no I do all that myself. We just buy the Jell-O in the boxes and I mix it up and cut it up after its solid. It takes me a few days to get them put together because they need to be in the fridge for so long, but it always makes it worthwhile in the end."

"It's really good," Dean complimented her as he scooped up his last bit of Jell-O.

"I'm glad you like it," Jean said with a bright smile. "But don't fill up on it I made cake for dessert and we have three kinds of ice cream."

Sam suppressed his laughter as Dean's grin widened. He stabbed a tomato with his fork and popped it into his mouth.

The meal went quickly, despite how much food there was. Jesse and Stephen cleared the table while Randy went to fetch the ice cream and Jean got the cake from the fridge. Randy returned first with vanilla, chocolate, and mint ice cream, Jesse and Stephen brought clean plates and Jean returned with her cake.

"This is Stephen's favorite kind." Jean said as she removed the tinfoil to reveal a thick layer of vanilla icing covered with mini chocolate chips. She cut into the cake and served each of them a piece.

"What kind of ice cream would you like?" Randy asked.

Dean looked at the three different kinds and grinned.

* * *

Jack and Priestly were waiting just outside the dining room when the brothers emerged fifteen minutes later their stomachs full to the point of exploding. Sam was shaking his head at how his brother could eat so much and stay so thin. Even after Dean's second piece of cake and fourth scoop of ice cream his stomach incredibly stayed flat.

"Dude, that was awesome." Dean said grinning as the brothers headed for the back door to head back to their cabin.

Priestly stood up on his hind find and started to dance around in a circle hoping for a treat. Jack looked at the puppy with a bored expression then sniffed and quickly looked away as if embarrassed for him.

"Dogs, dinner." Jean called from the dining room. Both dogs immediately dashed into the other room, their tags jingling.

Sam pushed open the back door and the brothers stepped into the night.

"So when did you wanna go back to the tree?" Dean asked as they started across the back towards their cabin, their boots scuffing against the gravel.

"We could head out first thing in the morning." Sam said as he peered up at the cloudless night and the endless stars that seemed to stretch like a blanket across the sky.

"Sounds good," Dean agreed at once. "How early?"

"We should try and head out as early as we can. But not too early we don't want Randy and Jean askin' a lot of questions."

"Good point," Dean said as he pushed open the cabin door. "We'll head out after breakfast."

"Think they'll let us head out on our own?"

Dean shrugged as he flicked on the hall light and started for the bedroom. "There's always one way to be sure they won't know until we're back."

"How's that?" Sam asked as he followed his brother into the bedroom.

Dean grinned. "Don't tell them."

* * *

The next morning was stressful for the brothers. They acted as casual as they could during breakfast, chatting easily with Jean's family while they ate their pancakes, sausages, scrambled eggs and biscuits. Sam wasn't sure why there were biscuits being served with pancakes, but he figured it must be a dude ranch thing, Jean made biscuits with every other meal, and he'd never had better biscuits so he didn't complain.

When asked what was on their agenda for the day the brothers were careful, giving half truths and not mentioning how they were planning on going off on their own when they were done here. They knew that Jean and the boys would be busy with the breakfast clean up and Randy had already finished the morning feeding, so it'd be at least an hour before he went out to start mucking stalls. The brothers had gotten up at the crack of dawn to pack a bag with all they'd need when they got to the dead tree so all they had to do was go out, saddle up the horses, and get on the trail before anyone saw them leaving.

Sounded simple enough. But that didn't mean that they weren't still stressed about it. Both brothers showed the stress in subtle little ways, Sam was quieter and didn't seem as interested to contribute to the conversation, Dean ate less than usual and played with his scrambled eggs instead of eating them.

If Jean noticed she didn't say anything, although her lips were slightly pursed and her eyebrows cocked as she watched Dean's fork circle the eggs time and time again.

After breakfast Dean headed for the cabin to get their bag while Sam hurried to the barn to saddle the horses. He'd picked that up a lot faster than Dean had and could do it much faster as a result.

By the time Dean snuck into the barn Ranger was tacked up and ready for him. The appaloosa perked his ears forward in curiosity as Dean approached and nickered softly. Dean reached up and rubbed the velvety soft nose then patted Ranger's neck heartily.

Sam tightened the girth on Ebony then checked it with his fingers to make sure that it was tight enough. When he was sure it was he did up the girth and let the stirrup drop. He nodded to Dean to let him know they were ready.

Dean grabbed Ranger's reins and led him away from the cross ties, looking around carefully as the stepped out of the back door of the barn to make sure the coast was clear, then led Ranger to the fence, shouldered his bag, climbed a few fence rails and then swung onto Ranger's back. Sam gripped Ebony's reins tight at the neck and mounted from the ground, not needing the aid of the fence.

"We'll need to hurry, once we get past the barn we're in plain sight of the back window." Sam pointed out as he turned Ebony towards the trail. He dug his heels into her sides and urged her into a canter. She whinnied, a little startled at the urgency he expressed and immediately responded. Dean copied the motion and Ranger too accelerated into a three gated canter. It was almost as fast as a gallop, Dean observed, but smoother.

The house passed quickly by in a rush of color and soon the brothers were hidden by the tall trees. Only when they could no longer see the barn did they slow their horses. Sam patted Ebony's neck heartily and Dean released a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding.

"Think they saw us?" Dean asked as Sam led the way down the trail they'd taken the day before.

"I don't think so, but best to get to the tree before they notice that we're missing and so are our horses."

Dean nodded. Once it was discovered that he and Sam as well as their horses were gone it wouldn't take them very long for Jean to send someone out to search for them. He dug his heels into Ranger's side and the horse picked up into a trot, snorting loudly as they came upon the stream.

"Do you really think that the tree is where they are?" Sam asked as Ebony charged into the stream, kicking up a spray of water. Ranger plunged in right behind her, his nose so close it was almost on her rump. Ebony's ears flattened against her head and she whinnied and swished her tail.

Dean pulled Ranger up a bit giving Ebony some space and wiped some of the water from his face. "That's where my money is."

"Did you bring the...?"

"Yep," Dean answered before Sam could finish the question.

"In the movie the horseman came out of the tree right?" Sam asked as he kicked Ebony into a trot as they hit they hit level ground once more.

"That's right, it was a portal between worlds, where the horseman could enter and escape Hell." Dean said as he too kicked Ranger into the faster gait.

"Do you think it's the same thing here?" Sam wondered.

"It's possible, everything else has been like the movie so why not this?"

"Any ideas on who's controlling it?"

"No, but it's either someone who is on the ranch or close to the ranch who wants it to close. Jean seems determined to keep it open, but if the horseman keeps killing people she might not have a choice."

Sam set his jaw, knowing that Dean was right. He urged Ebony faster.

* * *

The tall dead tree was just as foreboding as it had been last night. Both brothers tied their horses at the trail and walked slowly down towards the tree, their steps in synchronization, their breathing was barely audible over the crunching of the dead leaves beneath their boots.

"Can you hear that?" Sam whispered as he looked around at the surrounding trees. All along the trail they'd heard the sounds of life, birds singing in the trees, the occasional rustle of leaves as some small mammal scurried away from them. But here it was silent. Never a good sign.

Dean nodded and he too looked up into the neighboring trees. The trees with branches closest to the dead tree had turned brown and withered, they drooped down towards the earth, with only a few still hanging onto a few dead leaves. No wind rustled the trees, and even the sun seemed to struggle through the thick canopy of the surrounding trees to light up the small meadow here.

Dean circled around to where he'd been studying the tree last night and dropped his bag to the ground, crouching next to it and unzipping it quickly. Sam kept watch, trailing his eyes over the surrounding trees, back up to the trail and the horses, and then to Dean.

Dean retrieved his axe and straightened up, looking at the tree apprehensively. "Do you wanna...?"

Sam shook his head minutely and Dean nodded. He'd expected as much. He took in a deep breath and stepped up to the tree, the axe dangling at his side in his loose grip. Sam backed up a few steps, his stomach tight, he wasn't sure if he really wanted to see this. If this was what they expected then what they were going to find here wasn't going to be pleasant.

Dean's fingers tightened around the axe handle and he shifted his position with his feet slightly apart but at a better angle for him to do what he was about to do. He looked over his shoulder at Sam, who nodded once quickly, then turned back and swung the axe.

It hit the tree with a hollow thud, which seemed to bounce around the trees and echo back to them a thousand times. Dean didn't pause he swung the axe again with the same results. The axe blade dug deep into the dead tree's trunk, but pulled free easily when Dean tugged on the handle.

On the fifth swing something spurted out of the trunk and hit Dean in the face. Dean flinched and wiped some of the sticky substance away from his eyes, then rubbed his face against his arm to rid his face of the rest of it before swinging the axe again.

More red crimson shot from the tree this time, splattering Dean's clothes with it. Dean didn't stop this time, he swung again and again, his blows becoming heavier with each swing of the axe. Blood splattered up on his face, his hands, his shirt and even his jeans so that he was gory with the substance. Then on the thirteen swing the trunk split and something rolled onto the ground straight to where Sam stood. It hit his boot then rolled back limply.

The tangle of long black hair covering it like a mop. Sam stomach lurched and he looked up at his brother, who was looking just as pale as he was. But Dean wasn't looking at the bodiless head that had rolled towards Sam. He was looking at the tree, one hand over his mouth. Sam was almost afraid to look, but he forced down the sick induced bile and stepped up to his blood splattered brother.

"Looks like this isn't the first time the bastard has been on a killing spree." Dean muttered.

The trunk was full of heads and Sam felt sick at the sight of them all. Men, women, and even a few that looked like they had once been children. Blood coated the inside of the tree and tendrils of hair had been caught on some of the bark's rougher spots. Some of the victims' eyes were closed, but most of them were open and they were the same horrified expression on each face. And there right at the front was Kari. Her long blond hair rested underneath her severed neck, cushioning the head against an older decaying head. Her eyes were open wide and her mouth open in shock.

Varying smells of decay escaped the now opened trunk, perfuming the air and making both Sam and Dean gag. They were used to death, they'd dealt with it enough to be used to the smell, but this was overwhelming. Dean turned away from the tree, and walked swiftly to the trees on the far side of the meadow where he disappeared. Sam knew he wasn't going to make it that far. He took a few steps away from the tree and quickly relieved his body from the breakfast he'd eaten that morning.  
He wiped a shaky hand across the back of his mouth, getting rid of any more traces of sick that might be there. It was worse than what they'd expected. So many more victims from so many years ago. This wasn't the first person to control the horseman, someone else had controlled him before, but this time the man who held the blade had a whole new twisted way of doing it.

Dean emerged from the trees a minute later, still looking awfully pale and his legs shook as if they didn't want to support him. Sam frowned at him as Dean got closer and he could see the light sheen of sweat on his brother's face.

"Well, that was disturbing," Dean said simply as he looked back at the tree trunk full of heads. He wiped his hand across his forehead to remove the last of the evidence of his weakness. Then ignoring his brother's worried gaze he crouched down next to the tree and used the tip of the axe blade to move a few of the heads over to see just how many were in there.

"Looks like there's at least twenty in here," Dean said at last. He straightened and dusted the dirt off his knees. He looked back up at the tree thoughtfully. "You know when we stop the horseman we should burn the tree...and everything else."

"Yeah," Sam agreed at once, he looked at the head on the ground a few feet away from the tree. He wasn't sure if he should put it back in the trunk or not. He wasn't sure if there was anything left in his stomach at this point, but he was willing to be that anything left in there would come up in a hurry if he picked up that head.

"We'd better get heading back," Dean said after a minute. He too glanced at the head at Sam's feet, then cocked an eyebrow at his brother, almost challengingly.

Sam ground his jaw together, sucked in a deep breath and grabbed a handful of the long black hair. It twisted around his fingers, Sam tried to ignore how the head swung back and forth like a pendulum, and quickly walked back to the tree and stuck the head next to Kari's. His stomach lurched again as the varying decay smells assaulted his nose. He turned away and quickly walked back towards the trail and the waiting horses.

Dean took out a clean handkerchief from his bag and repacked the axe. Then he followed Sam, wiping as much of the blood off his face as he could. But there was nothing he could do about his blood splattered clothes, he'd have to change as soon as he could, and hope in the meantime that no one saw him.

* * *

As their luck would have it, they didn't make it very far before Jesse caught up with them. He was again riding the muscular bay and his face was strained with worry lines and his knuckles white. As soon as he saw the brothers color returned to his cheeks and relief flooded his face, immediately replaced with concern when he saw Dean's blood covered clothes. He kicked his gelding forward to meet them.

"Are you guys ok?" Jesse demanded as soon as he was close enough to greet them. "Dean, are you hurt?"

Dean shook his head, wondering how in the world they were supposed to explain this one. With all the blood coloring his shirt he looked like he'd just been in a bar fight.

"Why are you covered in blood? Where the hell did you guys go? Do you know that everyone on the ranch is out looking for you?" Jesse scowled at them and the muscles in his jaw bunched disapprovingly.

"It's kind of a long story, Jesse," Sam started apologetically.

"Well you'd better start talking," Jesse countered angrily. It was obvious that he wasn't going to except any piss poor excuse from them.

Dean opted for the truth. It was usually enough to make people think they were insane enough to let well enough alone. "We went back to the dead tree you showed us yesterday."

That pulled Jesse up short and his mouth opened in shock as his eyes widened in disbelief. "You what?"

"Sam and I went back to the tree to see if that's where the horseman is keeping all his victims' heads." Dean said simply.

"The horseman? That's just a story. It's make believe." Jesse said incredulously.

"It's supposed to be," Sam said gently. Ebony shifted uneasily beneath him and her ears swiveled slightly listening to something that only she seemed to hear. "He's not though, he's a ghost, an angry one at that and he's killing people. We're just trying to stop him."

"See that's kinda what we do, Jesse, hunt ghosts, demons, monsters all your worst nightmares." Dean added with a smirk.

Jesse's eyes darted back and forth from Sam to Dean as if waiting for one of them to pull a sly grin and give up the joke. Neither of them did. "Is this some kind of sick joke?"

"Nope," Dean said seriously.

Jesse swallowed hard and looked over his shoulder at the trails he knew his family was on as they searched for Sam and Dean. He turned back to the brothers and stared at them hard for a minute. Then he reached back behind him and pulled something off his saddle. It turned out to be a walkie talkie. "I found them, they were on the west trail."

Static escaped from his own walkie talkie for a minute before Jean answered. "They ok?"

"They're fine, we're heading back to the barn." Jesse reassured.

"We'll meet you there."

"We're pretty far down the trail, might take us a while. We'll meet you at the house later." Jesse said quickly with a quick glance at the brothers.

Sam and Dean raised their eyebrows in surprise and looked at each other in shock.

"Sounds good, don't bring them in hot." Randy's voice answered this time.

Jesse rolled his eyes and twisted the knob until the walkie talkie went dead, then he glared at the brothers. "Who the hell are you guys?"

"We're hunters."

"Hunters?" Jesse asked with an eyebrow raised incredulously. Then he frowned and pulled on Buck's reins turning him towards the west trail. "We can't talk here, everyone will be back before too long."

Sam looked inquisitively at Dean, who shrugged and then the brothers turned their horses around and followed Jesse down the trail at a furious gallop until they were well down the trail and not far from the path that would take them to the meadow.

Jesse didn't slow until he recognized the area, then he pulled up abruptly on his reins and Buck dug his front hooves into the ground. Jesse turned him around quickly so he was facing the brothers. Sam and Dean quickly pulled up on their own horses, bringing them to abrupt halts. Both of them snorted and shook their heads.

"Now," Jesse said hotly, "start explaining."

Dean let Sam talk, not feeling the need for both of them to explain what they were trying to do here. Instead Dean kept his eyes roaming over the land, he felt uneasy so close to the creepy head filled tree. There was still so much they didn't understand about this case and until he did he didn't want to be hanging out around the place that the horseman stored his victims' heads, as well as what could be a portal to the underworld.

When Sam finished a few minutes later Jesse still looked incredulous. He pursed his lips and frowned a little, "So you're telling me that you two go around the country hunting these things? And that you think the horseman is a ghost?"

Sam nodded.

Jesse snorted, then laughed. "You guys are crazy. There's no such thing!"

"Jesse, you said yourself that something weird happened to that tree two months ago," Sam tried patiently.

"Yeah, but you're saying it's because of a ghost?" Jesse was no longer laughing, but he looked skeptical.

"If they're angry enough they could easily turn the ground bad. And trust me this bad boy is mean enough." Dean said sharply. "And unless we stop he him he's going to kill someone else and he won't stop."

"And how are you supposed to stop a ghost?" Jessed demanded with one eyebrow raised.

"Salt and burn the bones," Sam said quickly.

"There aren't any bones to burn," Jesse snapped impatiently. "Casey's head was separated from his body and they were buried in two separate places, no one knows where."

"Well, we're pretty sure that his head was buried underneath that tree." Dean said pointing towards the large dead tree.

"And why do you think that?" Jesse asked, barely suppressing another snort of laughter.

"Well for one, there's disturbed earth which means someone was digging around out here for something. And second because all the horseman's victims' heads are stuffed up in that tree trunk."

"Right," Jesse didn't stop the laughter this time. "There's a whole bunch of heads in a tree trunk." He shook his head then looked up at the brothers through his eyelashes. "You guys are insane."

"Maybe, but there's one way to prove otherwise." Dean said simply, then he turned abruptly and started for the tree.

"Dean," Sam warned his eyes darting nervously to Jesse then back to his angry brother.

"He's not gonna believe us, Sam. He wants proof and we have some right here." Dean shot back over his shoulder.

Jesse rolled his eyes. "Are you guys for real?"

Sam said nothing, he simply looked at Jesse seriously then jerked his head in Dean's direction. Jesse didn't bother masking his sigh of irritation, but he followed after Dean. As he and Sam approached the tree Sam slowed his pace, letting Jesse take the lead, knowing what was coming next.

Jesse stepped over some of the exposed tree roots but stopped dead in his tracks when something with long tendrils of black hair rolled towards him. Sam saw Jesse's muscles tighten as the head caught on a tree root and stopped, tipping back slightly so the face was exposed.

Jesse was still for several long seconds, but then he had turned and was running back for the horses.

"Jesse, wait!" Sam called after him, trying to grab his arm as Jesse passed him, but Jesse side stepped him and continued back to the trail. Sam caught only a swift glance and Jesse's face but he'd seen corpses with more color than Jesse did right now. "Jesse!" Sam yelled after him and jogged to catch up with him. His long legs made short work of the distance between them and he caught Jesse's upper arm in a tight hold, forcing Jesse to stop.

"We tried to tell you." Sam started softly.

Jesse turned on him then. "Tell me? TELL me?" Jesse's voice broke as he stared up at Sam his eyes incredulous. "You guys just brought me to the place where all these heads were, the heads of all the victims whose heads were never found. You guys knew where they were! You brought me out here to either have me join them, or to pin the murders on me!"

"That's not true," Sam started, feeling Dean advancing on them. He held up a hand, cautioning Dean to stay back. "The horseman is..."

"There is no such thing as the headless horseman!" Jesse screamed at them, his voice high and shrill now. He pointed an accusing finger at Sam. "You guys did this, how else would you know about where the heads were?"

"Because we do this for a living," Dean snapped finally tired of biting his tongue. He ignored Sam's outstretched hand and glared at Jesse as he approached. "Whoever is behind this, whether you believe it's the horseman or not is going to keep killing people unless we stop it." Dean pointed to the limp head with the blank eyes, the eyes that reflected nothing, but the face that was forever frozen with the shock and disbelief etched on it.

"We should call the police, tell them where the heads are." Jesse said, taking a few steps back from Dean.

"No, we can't until we stop this. Otherwise we're just gonna piss this thing off." Dean's patience was thin. He hated police coming in and screwing up a case because they didn't know what they were really dealing with.

Jesse swallowed hard and looked at the bodiless head of Tish, unshed tears stung his eyes and then he blinked them back. "So if it is the headless horseman, and that's a huge what if...how are you going to stop him with no bones to burn?"

"Well, someone is controlling him. Making him kill these people. Someone who probably had a grudge against the family or the land. Whoever they are, they are conjuring up this thing and forcing him to kill people. And whoever it is has a twisted sense of humor, making the horseman do almost everything he did in the movie."

"The Johnny Depp movie?"

Dean nodded wearily. "Do you know anyone who might have a grudge against this place, Jesse?"

Jesse shook his head. "No the only people that ever come here are the guests for the ranch, we've had a few offers on the place from some big companies who like the land and want to build up shopping malls and stuff, but Mom won't sell. She loves the horses too much."

"What about Randy?"

Jesse shrugged. "He doesn't really like the horses that much. He says they eat up all his money and use up all his time with all the work we have to do with them. He doesn't get as much pleasure out of them as Mom does and he's tried to talk Mom into some of the offers that have come through on this place."

Dean stiffened, Sam squared his jaw and looked hard at Jesse. "Has that caused a lot of arguements between them? The split decision on selling the place?"

"They've been fighting more," Jesse said with a slight shrug. "But in the end Mom always gets her way." Jesse stopped and looked at the brothers suspicously. "You don't think it's him?"

"He has a motive, Jesse," Sam said softly. "So far he's the only one who fits the bill. We're gonna have to find out if it really is him."

"No, it can't be him. He wouldn't hurt anyone, honest!" Jesse said his eyes going wide with panic now replacing the usual calm that seemed to drift around him.

"Do you know of anything else connecting the victims besides that they all stayed here?" Sam asked patiently.

"No," Jesse answered at once frowning a little.

Sam frowned a little too, but seemed to believe Jesse because he swiftly looked up at Dean and nodded once who returned his gaze evenly. Then Sam looked back at Jesse. "We should probably get back before they come looking for us again."

Jesse nodded and bit his lip, looking back down at the bodiless head before him. He seemed to be frozen as he stared at it for several long seconds then he lifted his head and stared up into Sam's eyes again, his own eyes shiny with unshed tears.

"If you catch who's behind this and break whatever hold they have on this thing what will happen next?"  
Sam hesitated and he could see from the corner of his eye that Dean too looked uncomfortable as he shifted his weight from one foot to the other.

The truth was, that they both knew exactly how spirits took to being controlled and forced to kill people, and the results were never pretty. Whoever controlled the spirit usually ended up meeting the spirit's wrath and usually died a horrible bloody death. If it was someone in Jesse's family that was controlling the horseman, they were playing with fire and they were going to get burned. The brothers knew all this but they weren't sure if they wanted Jesse to know it. Because even if Jesse knew who it was, even if he could convince whoever it was to stop doing what they were doing it was too late, the brothers still needed to make sure that whatever was going on here was stopped for good, they couldn't take the chance that it wouldn't start up again after they'd gone. But as the horseman had already been forced to kill he was on the war path, which the brothers knew that if you started that it was like lighting a stick of dynamite. It might be fun at first but if you held onto the dynamite too long it would blow up in your face.

Sam opened his mouth, trying to come up with something comforting to say on the fly, but Dean beat him to it.

"We're not going to lie to you, Jesse," Dean said calmly, sizing Jesse up with his eyes for a long moment as Jesse turned to stare at him. "It isn't going to be pretty, these things don't take well to being controlled, being summoned to do someone else's dirty work. Whoever it is that is controlling the horseman has started something they can't take back, and usually when that happens it always comes back to bite them."

Jesse started back at him blankly. "So the horseman is going to be mad?"

"That's one way of putting it," Dean said with a slight shrug. "You remember the end of the movie? What the horseman did with Katrina's step mother?"

The color quickly drained from Jesse's face and his mouth opened in horror. He looked back at the dead tree beside them and took an involunatry step away from it, his hands trembling slightly. He seemed aware of the fact that his mouth was open after a few seconds and closed it, then turned back to Dean swallowing hard. "Do you really think that the horseman is coming out of this tree, just like he did in the movie?"

"There's only one way to be sure," Dean said casually as he slung his duffel over his shoulder and slipped his thumb under the strap to stop it from digging into his shoulder. "We'll have a stake out." 


	4. Chapter 4

Ok Friday is technically the weekend and I've been having internet problems out at my apartment again. So since I have access to the internet now, however temporary it might be, I decided I should get this last chapter posted while I could. Thanks to all those who've read and especially those who've reviewed, I've really appreciated the feedback.

**WARNING: **This chapter does have a darker tone to it - when I posted it on the last site I wrote it for a lot of my readers did say it was darker than they were used to from me. This is the epilogue of my story, even if it is really long but I've combined two chapters together, so that's why it is so long. But dark scenes ahead, very graphic and scary tones. You've been warned.

* * *

The ride back to the barn was quiet, Jesse didn't seem to have anything to say to either of the brothers, and both of them were watching Jesse anxiously. Ranger bobbed his head up and down and nickered eagerly when the barn came into view and picked up his feet a little bit more, his gait picking up a little as he looked forward to returning to his stall. Ebony chomped on her bit and shook her elegant black neck as a few flies danced around her ears. She snorted and perked her ears forward as a few long blades of grass swayed in a light breeze. Buck's ears swiveled around on his head and his tail swished lazily as a few flies hovered around his hindquarters.

Dean shot a look at Sam but Sam just shook his head subtly and stared ahead as they approached the barn, and Sam was sure that at least Randy would be there to meet them. As they got closer to the barn Jesse stiffened and pulled Buck up abruptly. The bay tossed his head and snorted, stomping one hoof angrily and chomped on his bit. "Oh great," Jesse moaned as he stared past the barn to where the brothers had parked the impala earlier that week. A new car was parked next to it, a pale blue convertible with the top down. The sun glinted off the windshield making the light bounce off a few of the closest trees and the leather seats gleamed a little under the hot sun.

"What is it?" Dean asked as he nudged Ranger up next to Buck before bringing him to a halt.

"Callie," Jesse said simply as he scowled at the convertible, clearly not happy about seeing it.

"I'm sorry who?" Sam asked as he wiped the perspiration away from his brow. His dark chestnut locks had begun to stick together in wet clumps as the sun got hotter, his shirt was already sticking to his back.

"Callie - Stephen's girl friend," Jesse explained as he nudged Buck forward again. The bay immediately responded and picked up into a trot, eager to get back to the confines of the barn. Jesse pulled him up a little and Buck snorted in frustration. He swished his tail, the long coarse hairs hitting Ebony's face and she tossed her head angrily.

"You don't like her?" Sam hedged, shooting Dean a quick sharp look as Dean smirked.

"She's ok I guess," Jesse said with a slight shrug. "She's just really weird."

"Weird?" Dean asked.

Jesse shrugged again but didn't explain further.

Randy emerged from the barn as they approached the outside fence, his face tense and worried, a frown pulling at the corners of his mouth. He crossed his arms over his broad chest and watched them as they dismounted their horses and lead them forward, Sam and Dean having the good sense to look abashed as they approached.

"Are you boys ok?" Randy asked as soon as they were close enough that he didn't have to shout at them.

Sam and Dean nodded in unison.

"Next time you boys want to go out on the trail let us know and someone will go with you. You had us worried that something had happened to you this morning," Randy said his tone a bit miffed but he looked more relieved than anything that they hadn't been injured.

"Sorry about that, Randy," Sam said quickly. Dean let Sam do the talking, his little brother had always had that gift of making people calm down quickly, it was best that he let Sam work his magic. "Jesse just showed us something really interesting on the trail yesterday and we wanted to go see it again."

"What was that?" Randy asked as he cocked an eyebrow inquiringly at his son.

"The dead tree off the west trail, guess the story of the horseman really got their imaginations going," Jesse teased as he grinned up at his father. "They thought that there was more to the legend and thought they'd be able to catch the horseman so they went to investigate the tree."

Randy's eyebrows rose incredulously and he look at Sam and Dean in surprise. "You boys realize that the horseman is just a legend around here right? There's no such thing."

Sam and Dean nodded, looking solemn.

"Good," Randy said with a slight nod. "We've had enough people getting hurt around here lately, don't want you boys to be next." Then he turned back to his son, clamped his hand on Jesse's shoulder for a brief second before he headed for the house, probably to let Jean know that Sam and Dean had made it back safely.

Jesse grinned at the brothers as he lead Buck into the barn, Sam and Dean followed him. They took their horses to the cross ties and took the heavy saddles off their horses' backs. Their horses seemed relieved to have the saddles off of them and they nickered to each other. Jesse took the saddles back to the tack room while Sam and Dean began to brush the dirt and sweat from their horses' necks and coats.

"Better hose them off too," Jesse said as he returned. He gestured to the far corner of the cross ties where a coiled hose was already attached to the faucet. "It'll help cool them down faster."

Sam nodded and started for the hose, but paused when the clicking of approaching heels caught his attention. He saw Jesse tense and then Jesse became suddenly very interested in Buck's mane, trying to disentangle the smooth mane.

"Jesse, have you seen Diamond's saddle?"

Jesse flinched and pretended that he was working on untangling a bit of Buck's mane.

Dean stared at the new comer, sure that this was Stephen's girl friend Callie. She was short, much shorter than he was, probably only a little over five feet if he was to make a guess. She had rich chocolate brown hair that fell just below her shoulders, it gleamed under the barn lights in strange ways, almost making it look as if she had highlights, but it was obvious that this girl had never dyed her hair before. It was impossible to get such a rich color from dye. Her face was oval, but round in the cheeks. Her hazel eyes were almond shaped, but hidden under heavy brows, which had met over the bridge of her round nose. Her cheeks were pink and her lips a bright red. She wore a black spaghetti strap, which seemed to be too big for her because the straps kept slipping off her delicate shoulders. She'd fidget with them, pulling them back up but they kept slipping off again. The shorts she wore hugged her thighs and stopped just above her knees, although they were a bit uneven and ragged, as though she'd just cut the legs off a pair of jeans and made the shorts herself. Her boots were tall and black with heels that looked uncomfortable to even stand in, let alone walk. But she stood with confidence, her arms folded across her chest, seeming unaware that the straps on her spaghetti strap had slipped off her shoulders again as she stared at Jesse.

"Did you check the tack room?" Jesse asked, not looking at her.

"Yes, it isn't there," Callie said hotly, as if knowing that Jesse was going to ask her the obvious question.

"Then go check the shed out back, maybe one of the stirrups needed to be replaced and Dad forgot to bring it back in," Jesse said shrugging his shoulders.

Callie huffed impatiently then seemed aware of Dean's scrutiny. She turned to him, her hazel eyes narrowing and her red lips pursing as she glared at him. She shifted her weight a little, her shorts tightening at her hips as she shifted them. She ran her fingers through her long brown hair, sweeping it away from her face.

"Can I help you?" She demanded hotly.

Dean shook his head and gave her a slight smile, but it faltered as her gaze grew colder.

"Then what are you staring at?"

"Nothing," Dean said turning away and returning his attention to grooming Ranger.

Callie huffed and pulled the straps of her spaghetti strap back onto her shoulders then she turned away, walking swiftly back the way she'd come her heels echoing off the barn walls. Dean stared after her, his eyebrows pulling together a little and his lips tightening to a thin line.

"Real winner isn't she?" Jesse asked as he tossed the mane comb into Buck's grooming bucket.

"She always like that?" Sam asked as he turned the hose on Ebony. The mare's ears went flat against her head and she turned her neck to look at him as the cold water ran over her hot sweaty body. She swished her tail a little then nickered and turned away from him, shifting her weight to her right side.

"No I think she is in a good mood today," Jesse sighed and then looked at the watch on his wrist. "It's almost time for lunch."

Dean's stomach growled, he hadn't realized that they'd been gone so long, or how hungry he was. But now that Jesse mentioned food he found he was suddenly ravenous. He quickly picked out each of Ranger's hooves then accepted the hose from Sam, running the cold water over Ranger's body from neck to hind quarters. Ranger seemed to enjoy it, he bobbed his head up and down then tossed his head in the air and made a strange noise that made Dean smile a little. He patted Ranger's neck affectionately and unclipped the cross tie hooks from Ranger's halter. The gelding followed Dean willing down the aisle towards his stall.

Dean rubbed the gelding's nose softly as he looked up in those big brown eyes, Ranger's ears swiveled forward and he nickered gently. Dean shook his head, quickly took off the halter and let himself out of the stall. Sam was already outside of Ebony's stall, looking down the aisle with a puzzled expression on his face.

"What is it?" Dean asked as he joined him.

"Hmm?" Sam asked absent-mindedly, as though Dean had pulled him out of some deep thought. Then his cheeks darkened a little in embarrassment and he gave his brother a crooked grin. "Oh, nothin' just thinkin' is all."

"Care to share with the class there, Sammy boy?"

"It's just - did you see the necklace Callie was wearing?"

"She was wearing a necklace?"

Sam frowned at him. "Yeah, Dean, she was - a horseshoe."

"Hmm," Dean said biting his lower lip and rubbing the back of his neck. "You think that means something?"

Sam's frown deepened. "Probably not - most people wear them for good luck charms, the horseshoe is supposed to hold good luck in but it also repels evil spirits, devils and supposedly witches. There isn't any scientific proof that they actually work, just folklore and superstitions mostly," He shrugged.

"Did you see her tattoo?"

It was Sam's turn to look surprised his eyebrows shot towards his hairline and his mouth popped open in shock.

"See, I _do _pay attention," Dean said with a grin.

Sam shook his head a little and stared at his brother incredulously. "What's a tattoo got to do with anything?"

"She has a black widow on her left shoulder."

"A black widow?" Sam asked a little puzzled, "Are you sure?"

"Pretty sure," Dean said sounding a little annoyed. "Why?"

"Well, that would contradict the horseshoe's powers," Sam said frowning again.

"How's that?"

"Well, the black widow itself is always a dark symbol, people always associate it with dark beings - the devils and witchcraft. Others see the female black spider as one who will always be looking for love because she always kills the male after mating, eating him - even during the mating at times."

"Whoa, hold up," Dean said throwing up his hands and staring at his brother in disbelief. "They eat them while mating? How is that even possible?"

"Well, the male will somersault his abdomen in front of the female's mouth and she'll often start to eat the top part of his abdomen, he is able to pull the lower half of his abdomen, including reproduction parts away from the upper half and will go down and mate with the female while she's distracted. After he's done mating she'll either finish eating him, or he'll die on his own."

"How do you even know this crap?" Dean demanded incredulously.

"Just some stuff I learned in one of my biology classes in high school," Sam said with a slight shrug.

"And you remember it?"

Sam ignored that.

"Ok, so the black widow is the she devil of the spiders, what about the tattoo?"

"A lot of people associate the black widow as being a silent killer, beautiful but deadly often under estimated because of her small size. She's a silent killer, something that could appear harmless at first glance, but she's just waiting for the right opportunity to make her attack. Some even think that the tattoo of a black widow represents independence, mostly because she'll never be able to find true love as widows never stay with their mates. It's not an every day tattoo, Dean. They're quite rare in and of themselves, it just seems strange that she'd have one, but also be wearing the necklace..." Sam trailed off looking puzzled.

"Maybe it has something to do with her personality," Dean joked lightly, nudging Sam in the ribs with his elbow as the two of them left the barn and headed up the house for lunch.

Sam gave him a weak smile and chuckled lightly. "Yeah, maybe."

* * *

After a lunch of deli sandwiches, various kinds of chips, soda, and strawberry ice cream with mashed strawberries on top Sam and Dean returned to their cabin. They'd been lucky, Jean hadn't asked any questions, probably because Randy had already filled her in on Sam and Dean's where abouts so the conversation hadn't been as strained as they'd expected. Stephen and Callie had gone outside with their lunches preferring to be alone. Apparently Callie had been out of town for a few weeks and Stephen had been very excited to see her again. Jesse had shifted uncomfortably during most of the meal, picking apart his sandwich and crushing the chips between his fingers. He barely ate anything, Dean wasn't sure if that was because of what they'd told him about what was really going on out there, or because of the bodiless head that had rolled towards him that morning.

"So how are we gonna get the horseman to come out?" Sam asked as he closed and locked the cabin door behind him. Dean walked over to the couch and plopped down on it, his stomach bulging with the recent meal.

"We're gonna have to lure him out some how," Dean answered simply.

"Lure him? How are we supposed to do that? The only people he comes after are the people who watch the cursed movie, Dean."

"Well, maybe we should watch it," Dean suggested.

"Are you high?" Sam asked his voice rising a pitch. "If we do that the horseman won't be coming out just for kicks, he'll be coming out to kill us and add our heads to his collection!"

"You'd rather he go after someone else?" Dean asked raising one eyebrow.

"Of course not!" Sam snapped.

"Well then we don't have much choice do we? We need the horseman to come out if we are gonna see if he really is comin' out of that tree."

"That's true, Dean, but he isn't going to just come out of that tree - he's gonna come out of that tree swingin' and he's not gonna go back into that tree until our heads are hidden inside that tree with all the others."

"That's not gonna happen," Dean said confidently with a wide grin.

"And how do you know that? Last time I check we aren't invincible, Dean."

"Maybe," Dean agreed his smile not wavering. "But we've got one advantage over this ghost."

"Oh yeah," Sam spat as he crossed his arms over his chest and glared at his brother. "And what the hell would that be?"

"We know he's comin' for us."

Sam shook his head incredulously. "This will never work."

"Hey if you've got a better plan I'm listenin'," Dean said sharply starting to sound annoyed for the first time.

Sam clenched his jaw and glared at his brother. He didn't like this, this plan wasn't smart and both brothers knew it but what other choice did they have? Wait until the horseman went after someone else? Tried to kill another innocent person on the ranch? It was either that or figure out who was controlling the damn thing, and break whatever hold they had on the horseman in order to free him.

Sam pursed his lips and glared at the floor for a minute. "Why don't we try breaking the hold on the horseman first?"

"We don't even know who's controlling him, Sam."

"No, but didn't Jesse say that Jean and Randy were fighting about the future of the ranch a lot lately? It could be possible that Randy has somehow managed to harness the horseman into doing his bidding. He seems desperate enough to sell this place to do anything for it. Jesse himself said that all Randy did was complain about the maintenance and cost of this place. If he thought that with the reputation of the deaths going around that business would slow that perhaps Jean would see his side of it."

"You really think he'd kill the people bringing in his income?"

"If he was desperate enough he would - people can do strange things when money is tight and relationships are strained."

"What time does he do the afternoon feedings?" Dean asked as he wiped at his upper lip and shut his eyes.

"Around two I think," Sam said cautiously. "Why?"

"Well I'm guessing if it is Randy he would have to have the horseman's head stashed somewhere, but he wouldn't be stupid enough to hide it in the bedroom or barn, anywhere that a lot of other people go right?"

"That would make sense," Sam agreed.

"But what about a private study, someplace that he goes to be alone, to do paperwork or does book keeping? Somewhere secluded where he could hide the head somewhere easily inside it?"

"But how would we know if he even has one?" Sam said still frowning, he wasn't sure if he liked where this was going.

"We can ask Jesse," Dean said as he rose swiftly from the couch. "When Randy is out doing the afternoon feeding one of us will have to go in and check out the office, the other will have to keep an eye out."

"Ok then, let's go talk to Jesse," Sam said quickly, still looking a little doubtful but he had the sinking feeling that this was their only chance. Either they find the head and break the hold on the horseman, or they watch the cursed DVD and hope to hell that they were faster in destroying the horseman than he was with his sword and ax.

* * *

"All clear?" Dean asked his brother as they looked nervously over their shoulders. The house was quiet, Stephen and Callie were out riding together, Jean had gone into town for supplies and Jesse was out in the barn with Randy helping with the afternoon feedings. Sam nodded once but didn't turn his head away from the only door in sight, listening for any sounds of a returning car or feet crunching up the gravel pathway.

Dean twisted the knob to Randy's study, it turned easily in his hand and he slipped inside. The room was large and had a slightly musty smell to it, kind of like one would find at the library surrounded by books. Randy' had several bookshelves lining the walls, each shelf was jammed with books, all of them collecting a fine layer of dust. A large mahogany desk sat in the middle of the room with a single chair behind it. A computer sat on one side of the desk humming quietly, the only noise aside from the large face clock hanging on the wall. Papers were overflowing from each of the organizer drawers and several stacks of papers teetered precariously on the edge of the desk.

Dean closed the door softly behind him and started at the desk trying each drawer but finding that each of them opened easily with the slightest of pulls. He found nothing more exciting than some pictures of horses, what looked like overdue bills, schedules for the horses and an order form for more feed. He walked around the study, checking the bookshelves, looking for a secret panel hidden behind some of the books but he came up empty handed.

Disappointed, Dean rejoined his brother and shook his head silently at him. Sam too looked disappointed, but with a resigned nod at his brother they started back for their cabin. Sam wasn't happy with this, and he knew that Dean wasn't any happier about it but they were out of options. With their only lead coming up empty they had to try and lure the horseman out and they'd rather the horseman go after them than someone else.

"So," Dean said with a wicked grin as the brothers left the house and stepped into the mid afternoon sun. "Should we ask Randy where they keep the popcorn?"

"Dean, we aren't watching this movie for fun," Sam said hotly.

"Come on, Sammy boy, lighten up," Dean said grinning even more widely. "Who doesn't like Sleep Hollow? That Katrina chick is hot."

Sam rolled his eyes and shook his head. There was no point in even commenting on that - he knew Dean would never change.

* * *

"Sam...Sam! Sam, wake up!"

Something poked him roughly in the shoulder and Sam lifted his heavy lids. When had he fallen asleep? He blinked owlishly at his brother sitting next to him on the couch, Dean was frowning at him, and Sam could hear music coming from the TV. From the corner of his eyes he could see the credits rolling.

"'Bout time, dude, I've been calling your name for five minutes," Dean said his frown melting as he grinned crookedly at his brother.

Sam blinked again and stretched his back, wincing a little as a couple of the joints popped. "How long have I been asleep?" He asked, yawning on the last word.

"Right after the movie started, you missed the whole thing," Dean pushed the button on the remote and turned the TV off. "Guess the horseman won't be goin' after you after all."

Sam's eyes widened in horror and he gaped open mouthed at his brother who was sitting there so casually next to him, his eyes alight with patient tolerance, as if he knew the horror that Sam was feeling and knew the tirade that was coming his way.

"Why didn't you wake me up?" Sam demanded hotly.

Dean shrugged but didn't answer.

Sam frowned at him. "You didn't want me to watch the movie did you?"

Dean cleared his throat and rose slowly from the couch to eject the DVD from the player.

Sam glared at his brother's back. "Dean!"

Dean's shoulders stiffened a little but he didn't look at him.

"Dean!" Sam shouted as he straightened to his full height.

Dean turned back to him, his face just as angry as Sam's. "No, Sam, I didn't."

"You want the horseman to go after you?"

"Of course I don't want him to come after me, but what choice do we have, Sam?" Dean said hotly as he tossed the DVD case towards the vacated couch. It landed with a light thump on the edge of the cushions and fell to the floor. "But we have a better chance of stopping him if he isn't after both of us. And since I'm not at my top form you're gonna have to be the one to stop him while he goes after me. You have the best chance of stopping him and you know it."

"How the hell am I supposed to do that?" Sam demanded.

"You have to find who's controlling this thing and stop them, get the head. If the horseman has his head back he should stop killing people. That would take care of him for good."

"Dean, we have no idea who is behind him! How am I supposed to find out who it is before the horseman comes out tonight?"

"We'll just have to keep lookin' around. Someone has to be controlling this thing, there has to be someone else who doesn't want the ranch to stay open. If we can find whoever it is that has a grudge against this place we might be able to find wherever it is that they're keeping the head."

"What about Callie?" Sam asked.

Dean frowned. "Callie? Stephen's girlfriend Callie? Why would she want to close the ranch?"

"Never mind," Sam said casually.

Dean's frown deepened. "No you had to have a reason for suggesting her, Sam, why would you think it's Callie?"

Sam sighed and looked at the floor, he suddenly seem interested in his boots. "It's just a lot of little things, the way she talks to Jesse, the black widow tattoo, the horseshoe necklace. Something just doesn't feel right, Dean."

Dean pursed his lips at his brother. "You think Stephen wants the ranch to close so he and Callie are working together to close it?"

"Maybe," Sam said shrugging his shoulders. "Or Callie could be working alone, we have no idea what we're dealing with here, Dean, and that's the thing that makes this case so hard. All we know is that someone is controlling the horseman, and we know the reason behind why they're controlling him. But that doesn't mean we're any closer to catching who it is."

"True," Dean agreed as he began to pace the length of the room. "But we know it has to be someone connected to the ranch and that cuts our list down to five."

"But it could be one of the prospective buyers too, Dean. If they were really anxious to get their hands on this land they might be willing to do anything to make Randy and Jean loose all their business so they have no choice but to sell."

"Great, and we have no idea on who is offering to buy this land from them, so that could make the possibilities endless," Dean grumbled he stopped his pacing and rubbed his ribs gingerly. "So what do we do now?"

"Try and get some more information I guess," Sam said looking at the window and frowning at the sinking sun. "And we'd better do it fast, we only have a few hours before the sun sets and then the horseman will be here." He glared at his brother, setting his jaw and balling his hands into fists. "And thanks to your stupid stunt he'll be after you."

"Well, let's just hope that we'll be able to give him what he's really after before he tries to cut my head off," Dean said walking to the door and stepping out into the early evening air. Sam glared at the DVD case sitting innocently on the floor where it had fallen after Dean had tossed it. The top of the case caught the sun and reflected it back to Sam. Sam's foot moved on its own accord and suddenly the case was against the opposite wall, the case broken and the DVD lying on the carpet, split in two pieces. Sam hurried after his brother, vowing silently to himself that he was going to stop this horseman, he would save Dean from this thing, no matter what the cost.

* * *

"Did you talk to Jean?" Dean asked when the brothers met up in the cabin almost two hours later.

"Yeah, she didn't know anything - and I searched the bedroom too," Sam said his cheeks a little pink.

"Sammy, you dirty little..."

Sam cut him off. "There wasn't anything in there, Dean, so Randy and Jean aren't the ones controlling this thing."

Dean sighed in defeat. "Well Jesse didn't seem to know anything else, he's still having a hard time accepting that we're telling the truth about this whole thing."

"So what do you want to do?"

Dean shook his head, if he was going to be honest with himself he didn't know what else he could do.

"Did you talk to Stephen?" Sam asked inquisitively.

Dean shook his head again. "He's still out somewhere with Callie - their horses are gone."

"Did you want to try and find them? They could have the head hidden in the woods somewhere..."

"No, we have no idea where they've gone, there are a lot of trails out there and they could be on any one of them. We'd be out there for hours trying to find them and if we're out on the trail when the horseman comes out then we'll be sitting ducks. Those trails are his territory."

A soft knock at the door stopped their conversation, the brothers looked at each other briefly then Dean walked over and pulled the door open a bit his shoulders stiff and tense as a result of their situation and recent conversation. They relaxed a little when he saw who was on the other side of the door and pulled it open all the way. "Jean," he said his voice as friendly as he could make it. "Something wrong?"

"Nope, just wanted to let you boys know dinner is in five minutes," Jean said she looked over Dean's shoulder and waved at Sam. "We'll see you boys then."

"Thanks, Jean." Dean said then closed the door as Jean headed back for the house. He turned back to Sam his face once again serious and somber. "Think Stephen and Callie will be there at dinner?"

"Dean, you can't be serious!" Sam sounded annoyed.

"What?"

"How can you think of food when you know the horseman is going to try and kill you in a few hours?"

Dean paused a minute then grinned. "Well, if I go down at least I'll have one last good meal and not the stuff we usually have to warm up at a Quicky Mart microwave."

Sam glowered at him but Dean ignored him.

"Come on, I'm hungry," Dean said and he hurried outside to get to the house. Sam followed reluctantly.

"So what if they are there at dinner, what are you gonna say?"

"Nothin'," Dean said simply. "We'll have to talk to them after dinner."

Sam nodded in agreement. He knew that with as much as they'd been talking about the horseman today it'd seem fishy if they kept bringing it up. He knew that Randy and Jean just thought that the story was a myth that went with the land, but they were bound to bring in the straight-jackets if Sam and Dean didn't stop asking about him.

Dean sniffed appreciatively when they entered the main house and rubbed his empty stomach as they made their way to the dining room. Sam marveled how Dean could even have an appetite at a time like this. Sam felt sick and wasn't sure if he'd be able to eat anything, he was trying hard not to let the fear that the horseman was going to try and take his brother away from him in a few short hours. The more he thought about that the more he was sure that he wouldn't be able to stomach anything. His throat felt swollen and he could barely swallow, his breath caught in his chest and his heart beat loudly in his ears.

"Sam!" Dean's hand was suddenly on his arm and Sam blinked looking at him.

"What?"

"Dude, are you ok? You went white," Dean was looking at him in concern, his eyes scanning Sam's face. He had the same look on his face Sam had seen a million times before, one that Dean had whenever Sam was hurt, sick, or trying to hide something from him. The look that Sam had come to call the big brother look where the responsible side of Dean came out despite any other feelings that he might have been feeling towards Sam moments before were always trampled with Dean's worry for him.

Sam cleared his throat and nodded. The last thing he wanted was for Dean to be worried about him. Dean couldn't afford his attention to be split tonight, he needed to have his mind in the game if he didn't want his head to join the horseman's collection. "Just hungry I guess," Sam lied.

Dean's frown deepened and he looked at Sam for a few seconds longer before he seem to accept Sam's explanation and grabbed Sam's arm, pulling him into the dining room with him. He walked over to their usual seats and made Sam sit down before sitting down himself.

"Hey guys," Jesse greeted as he came in through the opposite door and sat down across from them.

"Hey, Jesse," Dean greeted with a strained smile. Jesse didn't seem to notice.

Randy came in with a big bowl full of baked potatoes. "Jesse, why don't you go into the kitchen and bring in the peas and biscuits?"

"Ok, dad," Jesse said easily, he rose swiftly and darted into the kitchen to do as he was asked.

Randy set the bowl of baked potatoes in the middle of the table. "Hope you boys are hungry, Jean made one of my favorites tonight."

Jesse came back out of the kitchen, carrying a basket of fresh biscuits in the crook of one arm while both hands clutched the large bowl of peas. He set them down next to the potatoes and rubbed his hands quickly on the sides of his jeans.

"Stephen and Callie still out on their ride?" Sam asked casually as Jesse sat down opposite of them again.

Jesse rolled his eyes. "Are you kidding, sometimes they go out for a couple days at a time, but it helps the rest of us stomach it."

"Jesse," Randy warned dryly.

Jesse had the good sense to look properly abashed.

Jean came in then, carrying something wrapped in tinfoil. She set it down and carefully unwrapped the foil away from whatever was inside, she had to frequently pull her fingers away as the foil was still hot. After a minute or so she finally got the foil open to reveal a large side of fish. It was pink and the butter she'd cooked it in still bubbled a little. Green little flakes covered the top of the fish and the sweet scent of cooked fish filled the dining room.

Dean's nose wrinkled a little. He'd never cared for fish, and he wasn't all that excited about eating it now.

"Help yourselves," Jean said as she forked a baked potato and put it on her plate. She twisted the vegetable at both ends and it broke apart, steaming bits of white potato fell onto her plate. Jean used her fork to get the rest of the potato out of the shell.

Sam helped himself to some of the fish, it broke apart easily under his fork, the fine layers of pink fish meat were juicy and soft. Sam had a hard time getting some onto his plate but after a few minutes he managed to get himself a good sized portion. Then before Dean could protest Sam grabbed his plate and piled some of the fish onto his plate too. Dean accepted the plate with a glare when Sam handed it back to him.

"Just eat it, Dean," Sam whispered as his brother glared at the fish.

"Health food," Dean grumbled but he stabbed his fork into a potato and opened the shell, spilling bits of potato over the fish.

"So, Dean, Jesse said you boys wanted to go on a camp out tonight?" Randy asked as he helped himself to a large portion of the fish.

Sam almost choked on the peas he had in his mouth. He forced himself to swallow, took a drink of water and then looked at his brother incredulously.

Dean didn't look at him, he was putting sour cream on his baked potato. "Yeah, that is if it's ok with you guys. Our stay ends the day after tomorrow and we wanted the full experience."

"Of course," Randy said with a warm smile. "Jesse will be with you and he knows the best places to have that. You boys need to pack up your saddle bags after dinner and head out before it gets too late."

Dean stuffed some potato into his mouth and nodded.

Sam's jaw clenched and his hold tightened around his fork, the edges of the utensil dug into the soft skin on his palm but he barely noticed. Dean refused to look at him, pretending to be interested in his plate, but any bit of an appetite that Sam might have had disappeared with a sickness that he couldn't suppress. His stomach was churning and he was sure whatever he had manged to eat was going to make a reappearance.

Dean could feel Sam's eyes on him and he picked up a bit of the pink fish gingerly on his plate, he looked once at Jean, was not surprised to see her looking at him, then popped the fish into his mouth. He was pleasantly surprised. The fish was juicy and tender and had a sweet taste to it that he'd never experienced before. He felt his eyes widen without him actually thinking about it and could hear Jean's soft chuckle from across the table. He looked back up at her and could see her eyes were alight with amusement.

"That's about the same reaction I get every time from someone who normally doesn't like fish. You aren't the first one I've made this for, Dean." Jean said giving her husband a fond look.

Randy chuckled too. "I hated fish until I tried Jean's salmon, best fish I've ever had."

"Most people who come here don't like fish but they love this once they've actually tried it." Jean said as she finished her potato.

"I can see why," Dean said helping himself to another bite.

The meal continued in silence, Sam knew that Dean's eyes flashed to Sam's plate every few minutes and then a frown pulled his lips down when he saw that Sam had barely touched his food. Jean seemed to notice too.

"Not hungry tonight, Sam?" She asked as she rose and started to clear away the plates.

"I feel a little sick actually," Sam admitted.

Jean suddenly looked concerned. "Are you boys sure you should go out tonight then? If you aren't feeling well, maybe it isn't such a good idea."

"He's fine," Dean said nudging his brother in the ribs when Sam opened his mouth to speak. Sam clenched his teeth together and glared at his brother, but Dean matched it with one of his own.

"You sure?" Randy asked, he too looked concerned.

"He's just excited is all, when Sammy gets this excited he always gets a little sick to his stomach."

Sam's glare darkened but Dean seemed oblivious.

"If you're sure," Jean said uncertainly as she came back into the room with a few small bowls that had chocolate chips, sprinkles, and cherries, she had a canister of whipped cream in the crook of one arm and carmel and chocolate syrup in the other. "Honey, will you go get the ice cream?"

Randy wiped his mouth with his napkin and nodded then hurried into the kitchen. He came back with a large tub of vanilla ice cream, banannas, and long oval shaped bowls.

"Tonight is make your own banana split," Jean said happily as she placed the bowls next to each other on the table with the syrups and whipped cream on the end.

Dean grinned.

* * *

"This is a bad idea, Dean," Sam said as he tightened the cinch on his saddle.

"We don't have a choice, Sam," Dean said as he unhooked Ranger from the cross ties and started to lead him out of the barn. Their saddle bags were already tied behind their saddles along with their sleeping bags and some food Jean had packed them for breakfast.

Sam scowled at his brother's back. It was well after nightfall now and Sam felt very uneasy about this.

"You ready, Sam?" Jesse asked as he lead Buck away from the cross ties as well.

"Yeah," Sam grumbled as he tied the cinch and unhooked Ebony from the cross ties. He pulled gently at the lead rope and followed Jesse out of the barn.

"You still want to go down to that tree?" Jesse asked Dean as they exited the barn.

Dean was already sitting on top of Ranger and had been patting the spotted horse gently on the neck. "Yeah, it's where the horseman will be comin' up so that's the best place to be."

Sam's eyes widened in shock. "Are you insane?"

"Sam, if we stay close to where he's comin' out then we'll have a better chance of making sure no one else gets caught in the cross fires," Dean said heatedly.

"Yeah and a better chance that he'll get you!" Sam shouted angrily. Ebony tossed her head and snorted at the loud noise.

"That's a chance I'm willing to take," Dean said casually.

"Well I'm not," Sam growled.

"Sam, I'm doing this with or without your help," Dean snapped turning to glare at his brother. "Now are you comin' or not?"

"Fine," Sam snapped as he mounted Ebony, he jerked her towards the fence and kicked her sides hard. Ebony tossed her head, snorted and jumped forward her gait a little jerky. She chomped at the bit and headed for the open gate.

"You guys really think the horseman is going to come then?" Jesse asked as he and Dean followed after Sam, their horses gates matched perfectly and both seemed excited by the night time ride.

"I'm sure of it," Dean confirmed as he stared at his brother's back several paces in front of them.

"Sam thinks so too?"

Dean sighed and bit down on his lower lip. "Yeah, he's sure of it."

"So why isn't he happy? I mean won't you guys be able to stop this thing if he's there?"

"We can't stop him unless we have the horseman's head. And we have no idea who has it."

"So why do you want to go to the tree? Isn't that where the horseman is supposed to come out?"

"Because we need to try and stop this thing, any way we can." Dean said with a determined glare, he dug his heels into Ranger's sides and clucked his tongue. Ranger responded and picked up into a canter and the three of them entered the woods.

* * *

Camp didn't take long to set up, and they'd managed to find a clear patch of ground not far from the dead tree, much to Sam's dismay. As the hours passed Sam grew more and more agitated, he began to pace around the campsite, ignoring the fire that Jesse had built while Jesse and Dean roasted marshmallows on the same iron spits they'd used to roast hot dogs a couple of nights ago.

"So when is the horseman supposed to come?" Jesse asked as he withdrew his marshmallow and tested it with his fingers. The marshmallow's outer skin cracked and the gooey insides escaped and burnt his fingers. Jesse licked the marshmallow off his fingers then pulled the marshmallow off the spit and tossed it into his mouth.

"Any minute now," Sam said looking at his watch.

"Relax, Sam," Dean said as he pulled his own marshmallow off the spit and popped it into his mouth. He reached for the bag and stuck another marshmallow onto the end and stuck it into the fire. The fire licked at the delicate marshmallow making it blister and brown while Dean turned the spit around in slow circles so the marshmallow would cook evenly on all sides.

"You know I think you guys are wrong about this whole horseman thing," Jesse said as he put down his spit and walked over to his sleeping bag. He unrolled the top and sat down, covering his legs with the soft warm material.

"How's that?" Dean asked as he pulled the marshmallow out of the fire to test it. He frowned and put it back in the flames.

"What if someone is calling the horseman? Summoning him at will?" Jesse suggested.

Sam froze and looked back at Jesse, his face suddenly going white. "Why would you think that?"

"Well," Jesse said and suddenly his face split into a horrid grin, something that looked unnatural on his face. "Because I've been the one summoning him."

The iron spit that Dean had been holding fell from his nerveless hands and he rose swiftly to his feet as Sam lurched towards him. "You...you've been what?" Dean's voice cracked in surprise and shock.

"You heard me," Jesse said standing now, and for the first time he held a purple pouch, it was large and was obvious that it held something odd shaped inside. Dean felt suddenly sick. "I'm sick of taking people out on trail rides, of mucking out stalls, getting up at the crack of dawn to take care of animals that I don't even care about." Jesse said his voice sharp his eyes narrowed, his body tense. "For as long as I can remember I've been helping out with the horses, I was taught to ride before I could even walk. You have no idea how frustrating it was to see all these businesses want to buy up the land, offering deals with enough money to put my children's children through college. But Jean refused every time, she loves her precious horses too much. I tried to talk to Randy, told her to make her see reason, with that much money we could go do something else, this place has been in the red for years, always eating up more money than what it was bringing in and it wasn't hard to make Randy see things my way. But Jean wouldn't even listen to him, she was too set to have this ranch, she loved it too much so Randy eventually stopped trying and it seemed like I'd never be free."

"So you started to kill people?" Dean demanded.

Jesse laughed, it was high and cruel and bounced off the trees. "No, no, you have me all wrong. I had given into my fate, and knew that I was bound to clean up horse manure for the rest of my life. But then along came Callie. She met my brother in school and they started to date, I was spell bound by her, she was the prettiest girl I'd ever seen. I was delighted when she and Stephen began to have problems, when Stephen's responsibilities for the ranch took priority over their relationship, I made my move, Stephen was unaware. Callie was just as taken with me as I was with her, and after we'd been together for a few months, secretly behind Stephen's back of course, I told Callie how I felt about the ranch and Callie told me that she could help me close it down for good."

"How did you do it? How did you find the horseman's head?"

"It wasn't hard," Jesse snarled, but his face remained just as calm and pleasant, it made it even more unnerving. From somewhere behind them they could hear the creak of roots as they started to part. "Callie had heard all the old stories of course, so all we had to do was look around. Of course the head could have been anywhere on the property but this old tree has always been strange. No birds will ever nest in it, though it would protect their babies well, no animals ever eat the leaves, though they eat from all the trees surrounding it, and the horses always spook here. When Callie noticed these things we started to dig, and after a couple of weeks we found it. Callie created the curse and bound the horseman to us, quite useful her being a witch. Stephen never wanted her to embrace her practices but he has always been blind to other ways. I knew that by having the horseman in our power we could control the ranch, make it impossible for them not to sell it and I would at last be free."

"Do you have any idea on what you've done, Jesse?" Sam demanded as he glared at him. "You've put a dog leash on a great white - when this thing gets free, and trust me he will, you are the one he's going to go after. You and Callie."

"That's only if we set him free," Jesse said with a smile. The roots behind them creaked again and something snorted. "And he never will, not so long as I possess this." Then Jesse turned the pouch over and a withered old skull fell into his palm.

Just then a horse screamed and Dean turned around just in time to see the old tree's roots part and the tip of a horse's nose came bursting out, followed quickly by the rest of him, with a headless rider astride him. The black horse's eyes glowed red and he tossed his head in the air then reared, pawing angrily at the air. The horseman withdrew his sword and waved it wildly above his headless torso, then he jammed his heels into his horse's sides and they charged forward, right towards Dean.

* * *

Thundering hooves beat against the ground, small pebbles and debris bounced on the ground as the headless horseman's horse galloped towards them.

"Uh, Sam, no pressure or anything...but what the hell are we supposed to do now?" Dean asked his eyes not straying from the flashing sword in the horseman's hand.

Sam's throat seemed to close off and he found swallowing was nearly impossible. He couldn't help but be a little irritated with Dean for watching the stupid DVD in the first place. If Dean hadn't watched it then the horseman wouldn't be after him now. But of course there was nothing Sam could do about that now.

Jesse began to laugh, a high pitched and unnatural sounding laugh that made the hairs on Sam's neck stand on end. He glared at him, his stomach clenching uneasily. How could Jesse just stand there and laugh when the horseman had every intention of removing Dean's head from his body? How could Jesse want that for anyone?

"Dean, run!" Sam ordered. Dean cringed and turned towards him, a look of disbelief on his face.

"That's your big idea? Run?" Dean snapped.

Sam glared back at him. "Get to Ranger and try to get back to the barn!"

Dean hesitated. "But what about you?"

"He's not after me he's after you!" Sam shouted his voice just shy of shaking. "Now go!"

The horseman's horse whinnied loudly and reared, his long powerful front legs hitting the empty air in front of him. Dean turned his attention back to the horseman just in time to avoid a swing from the sword that would have removed his head. He ducked and rolled and then jumped up again running back to where they'd tied the horses earlier. The horseman jerked on his horse's reins spinning him around and dug his heels into the black horse's sides. The horse snorted and tossed his head wildly but jumped forward, racing after Dean.

Sam hurried to their duffel and retrieved one of the shotguns; he quickly took aim and fired at the horseman's back. The rock salt hit the black horse's hindquarters and it bucked in surprise and turned its majestic big black head around to glare at him, its eyes suddenly glowing with the flames of Hell. It tried to turn back towards him, showing his teeth at him and screaming in rage, but the horseman yanked the reins again, pulling its attention back towards Dean.

"Damn it," Sam muttered as he slid another rock salt shell into place. He cocked the shotgun and fired again, this time it hit the horseman's back, but he didn't seem to even notice it as he charged after Dean, he no longer held onto the reins but rather had his sword in one hand his axe in the other.

"It's no use, Sam, your brother is going to die - and you're next," Jesse said with a cocky smile.

Sam turned on him. "Let him go, Jesse! Call him off!"

Jesse shook his head slowly his grin spreading even wider across his face. "He can't be stopped. He'll only stop when he gets his quarry."

"If you hurt him, I'll kill you myself," Sam growled through his teeth.

Jesse laughed again, and tossed the aged skull in his hands as one might do with a basketball. "Oh, Sam, please! What makes you think I'm going to give you that chance? Once the horseman has collected Dean I'll send him after you. You don't have to watch the DVD for the horseman to want you of course - it was just a little something to make things more interesting. There is no curse, that's just for show. I couldn't make it seem as if someone was actually calling the horseman now could I? People were suspicious enough already, what with Tish's death and then poor little Kari. Too bad to - she was quite a looker."

Sam's stomach clenched uneasily. Jesse didn't sound apologetic at all. In fact he sounded amused, as if he enjoyed watching the horseman kill people, which Sam guessed, he probably did. "So what?" Sam snapped angrily. "You kill off everyone who comes to the ranch so you guys loose business and your parents are forced to sell the place and then what? You think you can just walk away from this? From what you've made him do? He isn't going to let you get away with this, Jesse, you have to know that. Once the horseman has his head back he's going to be going for you and Callie as well. He's not going to be very happy that you've made him kill for you. Even if he was blood thirsty in his life - he's not going to take too kindly to being controlled."

"That's only if he gets his head back," Jesse said calmly as he brushed a bit of dirt off his sleeve. "But you assume that we are going to give the head to him - or put it back where we found it. We have no intention of doing that, Callie has already thought of the consequences to this plan of course - and that is why we plan on purifying the skull and burning it. That way the horseman can never have it back and he'll never come looking for us."

"Or that'll just break your hold on him and he'll come after you anyway," Sam spat.

"I doubt it - according to the legends we've read up on controlling spirits that should destroy them or send them on to whatever world waits for them hereafter."

"Why don't we just leave then? We'll leave tonight if you want - we won't come back. Then you can burn the head and forget all this, with all the recent deaths around here anyway I doubt many people would be interested in staying here anymore. Your parents will sell and you can get rid of the horseman."

"That's not enough, Sam, you guys know the truth now - I can't just let you go," Jesse said angrily. "No, after you two this will hopefully be over, my parents won't have a choice but to sell the place and then yes I will get rid of the horseman then."

"I'm not going to let you hurt my brother, Jesse," Sam growled. Tossing the shotgun aside he leapt at Jesse, an angry cry escaping his lips.

* * *

"Come on, come on!" Dean urged as he leaned over the appaloosa's neck, his fingers wrapped tightly in the tangled mane, his legs tight to the horse's sides. He kept his head low, avoiding any over hanging branches that might knock him off his mount, which could've been pretty easily since he hadn't had time to put on ranger's saddle. He found riding bareback very uncomfortable, the ridge at the base of Ranger's neck kept hitting him in a very uncomfortable place. Plus he found using the lead rope he'd used to tie Ranger to the tree with was not as easy to use as the reins were. Ranger was responding easily enough to Dean's commands, but Dean had to use all his concentration to keep himself from falling off the horse's back. The trail twisted and turned and became uneven. Dean clung tighter to the horse's mane, and ground his teeth together, the muscles in his jaw tightened and his knuckles went white with the effort of keeping his hold on the horse.

He could hear the horseman gaining on him, the thunderous beat of the black horse's hooves on the ground drowned out everything else around him, it was the only thing he could hear. He didn't believe in prayer, he didn't think there was anything out there watching over him, Mary had and it hadn't done her any good in the end. So why start now? If he was going to believe in anything he was going to believe in Sam. Sam would get him out of this - Sam would find a way.

All of a sudden Ranger stumbled and lost his footing. Despite his grip on his horse Dean found his balance tipping, as Ranger once again found his footing and began to gallop once more Dean lost his grip and began to slide sideways off the horse. He refused to let go of the horse's mane, knowing if he fell and had to get away from the horseman on foot he wouldn't have a chance.

A large tree loomed out of no where and Dean heard a sickening smack, he didn't feel anything at first, he was too confused by the fact that he suddenly found himself on the ground. Something warm and sticky trickled down the side of his face and the bitter scent of copper filled his nostrils. Blood. And then the pain hit - his head felt like he'd cracked it open, he could feel the hot blood as it continued to trickle down his face, curving around his eye and down his cheek. He lifted his hand and touched where it hurt the most. He could hear the fading hooves of both Ranger and the horseman's horse and guessed that the horseman hadn't realized that he'd fallen off yet, but it wouldn't take him long to figure that out. Dean had no idea where he was, or where the barn was from here, Ranger would be able to get back on his own, Dean was sure of that. Most animals had a good sense of where home was and could always find it if they had to. But that didn't do him any good now. Slowly and shakily he got to his feet but fell again almost immediately a sharp pain making the breath rush out of his lungs in a gush.

Gingerly he ran his hand down his leg biting his lip to stop him from making any noise - and then his stomach dropped a little as he felt something hard and jagged sticking out of his pant leg. He could feel the same warm sticky substance drenching his pant leg and knew that this bleeding was much worse than that of his head wound. If he didn't get this bleeding to stop he wouldn't have to wait for his head to be disconnected from his body because he'd bleed out on his own. Not that that was any more appealing than the horseman. In the dark Dean couldn't tell what was sticking out of his pant leg. It could be a thick sharp branch that had impaled his leg when he'd fallen, or, Dean's stomach twisted at the thought, it could be his bone. If he had broken his leg there would be no way he could get away from the horseman. As it was he doubted he'd get far in his condition, he could barely move and if he wanted to get anywhere he'd have to drag himself.

Shivering a little from the cold and the shock Dean slowly unbuttoned his button up and slid it off before pulling his t-shirt up and over his head. His hands trembled with the effort as Dean grabbed hold of the bottom of his shirt with his hands and put the other end in his teeth. He tugged quickly and firmly and the shirt ripped. Shivering violently now Dean ripped up a few more strips and then went to work putting a tourniquet around his leg and wrapping the injury as best he could. When he finished he lay back gasping, trying to get his body back under control. But he was finding it difficult, he couldn't move, he couldn't walk, couldn't fight back when the horseman came for him. He was easy prey and he had no idea where Sam was or if Sam was even ok.

As he lay looking up at the dark sky above him and listening to the fast beating of his heart and the slight wheeze in his breathing he realized that something else was breathing. Closing his mouth and holding his breath Dean waited, straining his ears. Had he heard right?

The sound of approaching hooves got louder, their even gait making the ground tremble with the weight of the big animal as it got closer. The animal's breathing was heavy and even, he hadn't heard wrong then. Dean's breathing turned to hyperventilation and his body went numb. This was it - the horseman had come back for him, and he had no way to fight it off. The hooves approached him quickly and were soon right on top of him, he could hear the horse snorting loudly as it pushed itself to its limit. Dean closed his eyes.

"I'm sorry, Sammy."

* * *

Sam panted heavily as he got shakily to his feet, his chest heaving, his legs shaking, his knuckles bloodied and sore. But he didn't mind that part, Jesse was down, at least for now and that was what was important. Jesse's face was bloodied and bruised, several deep lacerations lined his cheekbones and one nasty cut was right by his left eye. Sam knew that he was going to have a black eye himself, and his lip was bloodied but other than that he felt fine. Jesse hadn't been much of a fighter, but it hadn't stopped him from getting in a few good hits of his own. Sam had finally knocked him out with a head bunt, that had left Sam himself a little light headed but it was better than having some psycho kid in control of the ghost that was trying to kill his brother. Sam's eyes darted around the small camp area, looking for the head, Jesse had dropped it when Sam had lunged at him and Sam hadn't seen where it had gone. The pouch that had held the head in it when Jesse had first show it to them was over by the campfire, but Sam could see that it was empty, the pouch was flat and the string were sizzling as a few flames licked at them. But the head had to be around there somewhere didn't it? It couldn't have just gotten up and walked away and the horseman hadn't come back for it yet, no doubt he was still after Dean.

"Looking for this?" A sweet high-pitched tone asked casually.

Sam jumped and turned, he hadn't noticed her before because she was hiding behind one of the tall spruce trees, leaning casually against the trunk, her legs crossed at the ankles her chocolate colored hair limp around her face. She was smiling at him, but her eyes were cold, it made a cold chill run up Sam's neck. In her right hand was the hideous decomposing skull, the jaw was coming loose and there was a hole in the top of the skull. The empty sockets seemed to stare right through him and Sam shivered again. Callie's grin widened when she followed Sam's gaze, as if enjoying the discomfort she saw there. Sam was used to seeing skulls, not that she knew that, but this was different for some reason. This skull without its body wasn't what was bothering him, if he was going to be honest with himself he could almost see those empty eyes looking hungrily at his brother knowing that his brother was being hunted down by the very ghost who's skull this belong to, and unless Sam could get it back to him he wouldn't be able to stop him.

Callie stepped slowly away from the tree, she was still wearing the same black spaghetti strap she'd been wearing earlier, with jeans that hugged her hips and clung to her legs in a very flattering way.

"Your brother won't get far you know," Callie said with a wide grin, her eyes alight with delight at the thought.

Sam's teeth ground together and he glared back at her. "You don't know my brother very well, he can take care of himself."

Callie laughed loudly then as if Sam had just told her the most amusing joke. "Sam, the horseman won't stop until he's collected your brother's head - and you're next."

"Yeah, so I've heard," Sam growled through his teeth.

Callie's grin faltered for the slightest second and her eyes darted to Jesse's motionless body. Then she turned her glare back on Sam, her expression darker than before.

"I will stop him," Sam promised.

Callie's lips tightened a little. "What makes you think you can? The horseman is under my control - only I can set him free."

"With the head?" Sam demanded.

Callie shook her head grinning again. "The head is a prop, Sam, no matter what Jesse thought it was. It's just like the DVD but I'm sure that Jesse has already explained that one to you."

"You guys sure went through a lot of trouble to close this place down."

"Jesse wanted me to," Callie said with a little laugh that made Sam's insides boil. "You see he never cared for the ranch and when Stephen and I started to fight because he spent more time with those smelly horses than with me Jesse was the one who comforted me, who made me feel like I was wanted and loved. Oh I pretended that Stephen was doing better, that he was playing the '_good boyfriend_' so he wouldn't get suspicious of Jesse and I but Jesse was practically made for me - and I for him. We're meant to be together him and I and I wouldn't want it any other way. When this ranch closes down for good and Jesse's family is forced to sell their land and their horses Jesse and I plan on leaving together for good."

"So why not just do that now? Leave the ranch alone and just go?"

"Because Jesse's parents would never let him leave with a ranch to run - its too much work for them with him here, let alone if they found themselves without an extra pair of hands. Jesse feels like a regular ranch hand without the crappy pay. He's tried to talk to his parents, tried to convince them to let him go, but they always told him that things were too tight, that they needed him here, that he wasn't ready to go out and face the world alone. But if we had money - if they sold the ranch and Jesse didn't have the responsibilities of being committed to this life anymore then we could leave and they wouldn't be able to stop us this time."

"You really think that Jesse is going to get the money if they sell the ranch?"

"He will if his parents and Stephen are killed after the sale is closed," Callie grinned at the horrified look on Sam's face.

"You're planning on killing them too?"

"We're not doing anything - the horseman is."

"Callie, that horseman is going to turn on you - when he breaks free of the hold you have on him and he realizes that you've made him kill for you he isn't going to be very happy."

"And why wouldn't he be? The horseman is just as blood thirsty in death as he was in life. It's in his nature to kill, and so he does - we just point him in the right direction."

"Yeah but these aren't people he would've killed unless you pointed him in that direction!" Sam shouted at her he could feel the vein in his temple pop out a little in his anger. "You are making him go after people you don't want around, making him kill for your own personal gain. He isn't going to like that, whether he likes to kill or not - he's not going to take to being controlled and forced to kill for you against his will well. Now you can either give me the head and I can stop him or you can pray that your time in Hell isn't as bad as it should be when the horseman comes for you and Jesse."

Callie froze, staring at Sam with suddenly blank and staring eyes and her lips were white. Then she glared at him, and her free hand curled into a fist her nails digging into the soft skin on her palm.

"You don't know what you're talking about - the devil gave me control over the horseman and it is in his name that I vow to finish you all!"

"Then I guess it's up to me to stop you," Sam spat and he jumped at her.

* * *

A friendly nicker made Dean open his eyes and he felt his jaw drop and his eyes bulge a little in surprise as the black and white appaloosa stood patiently in front of him, the lead rope dangling around his front legs. Ranger lowered his head and blew softly out of his nostrils, his large black eyes staring at Dean inquisitively.

"Ranger," Dean breathed still not over the shock, barely daring to breathe or blink afraid that the friendly horse would disappear. He wasn't sure entirely sure that Ranger had come back to him and was pretty sure that his mind was playing tricks with him. Either that or the horseman had already disconnected his head from his shoulders and he was dead and only seeing Ranger in the hereafter.

Ranger stared at him for a long moment, then to Dean's utter astonishment, bent his front knees and knelt on the ground before lowering his back half so he was low enough that Dean could easily scramble onto his back. He nickered again and bobbed his head up and down a couple of times as if answering Dean's unspoken question. Dean dragged himself a couple of feet forward, the pain in his leg radiating through his whole body making it hard for him to stifle the noise, but he held his breath, refusing to let himself utter the slightest sound as he made his way to the patient horse.

Ranger turned to look at him as Dean grabbed a handful of Ranger's mane, using it to help drag himself onto the horse's broad bare back. Ranger didn't move as Dean tried to adjust himself, tried to pull his leg over Ranger's other side but found he couldn't, in horror he realized he'd have to ride the horse sitting sideways. He wasn't sure if he could do this - even if he had a saddle, but it beat having his head disconnected from his shoulders at least. He sat deeper onto the horse's back and reached for the lead rope attached to Ranger's halter, pulling it around and gripping it firmly in his left hand while his right hand still clutched at the mane tightly.

Ranger was in motion without a single command from Dean. Pushing off with his front legs Ranger's hindquarters rose first and Dean grabbed onto the horse's neck awkwardly as he felt his body shift on the horse's back. Ranger's front end quickly straightened and he began to head back down the trail towards Sam and the camp at a brisk trot. Dean's balance was precarious and the pain in his leg was blinding him but he clung to the horse as best he could. He knew that Ranger had come back to give him a fighting chance and he was going to do his best to beat this horseman if it was the last thing he did. Hell he'd been through worse before, he wasn't going to let some horseman take him down.

"Come on, boy," Dean said patting the horse's sweaty neck while still managing to maintain his balance.

And then Dean heard something that chilled him to his bones, the sound of approaching hooves coming up behind him, and they were coming much faster than he and Ranger were going. The other rider would be on him in seconds at this rate.

Not sure if he was making the best decision Dean clucked to Ranger with his tongue and used the end of the lead rope to slap Ranger's neck. Ranger immediately responded and broke into a gallop, his head held high but his ears flat against his head, as if he too had heard the horseman's horse. Ranger stumbled along the rocky path and Dean clung tightly to his neck and mane, trying to keep himself from falling off again. The horse behind them picked up its gait again and Dean could hear it gaining on them.

"Come on, boy," Dean urged the horse beneath him. "Come on, come on, you can do it - keep going."

Ranger turned a bend in the path and Dean was relieved to see the flickering of their campfire straight ahead. He leaned closer to Ranger's neck and clung tighter to Ranger's mane. "Come on boy, almost there, you can do it - don't stop now."

* * *

Callie's nails dug into the skin on Sam's undamaged cheek and tore at the soft flesh. Sam cried out and jerked his head back, already feeling the warm blood begin to trickle down from the fresh wounds. He glared at her and she glared back as they circled around each other, sizing each other up, planning for their next attack. But both of them paused when the sound of thundering hooves approached, the beats so loud they even drowned out the crackling fire. Sam turned and squinted into the dark shadows that surrounded them.

"Sam!" Dean's voice cried out for him and Sam's stomach clenched. The cry of his name was familiar, but the tone Dean had used wasn't one Sam liked hearing. It was the one when Dean was terrified, when he was desperate, and when he was hurt.

"Dean!" Sam shouted back all thoughts of Callie forgotten.

And then Dean was there Ranger galloping through the trees, his front right knee was scraped and bleeding, but Sam wondered if the horse had even noticed. Dean was sitting sideways on the horse's bare back, leaning close to the horse's neck, his face above his collar was bone white and his lips were pressed tightly against his teeth. Even from here Sam could see the sweat on Dean's face as it glistened in the firelight's glow. The side of Dean's face was crusted in blood and a long deep wound on Dean's temple told Sam how it had gotten there. Sam's insides began to boil and he felt the anger rise in him like a tidal wave. His brother was hurt and Jesse and his twisted girlfriend Callie were responsible for it. As Ranger circled around the fire Sam saw why Dean's face was so bone white - it wasn't the head wound it was the thick long branch sticking out of Dean's leg. Sam could see Dean's pant leg was already soaked in blood and he was sure that if he didn't get Dean help it wouldn't matter if the horseman got him because Dean would bleed out anyway. He had to get Dean out of here and now!

Sam turned back to Callie who had seemed to have gotten over her shock of seeing Dean come bursting through the trees now too. She was glaring at Sam but her fingers curled around the skull while Ranger and Dean stopped a few feet away both of them panting from their long run.

"Doesn't look like the horseman has much left to do - your brother doesn't look too well, Sam."

Sam shook his head and jumped at her again but she dodged away, holding the skull over her head like a prize.

"He's here, horseman!" Callie screamed into the dark shadows. "Come and take him!"

And then Sam heard the second set of hooves pounding away at the ground. He looked desperately at his brother who looked close to blacking out and then to where Callie was standing at the tree line. The hooves were coming closer and Sam feared that this was indeed the horseman coming and this time Dean and Ranger weren't in any shape to get away from him.

The big powerfully built horse burst out of the dense trees, his red eyes glowing and white steam blew out of his nostrils with every breath. He reared and pawed violently at the air, neighing loudly but that quickly turned into a scream. The horseman raised both his hands into the air, the sword and axe still clutched in both hands.

"He's there, horseman!" Callie said pointing at Dean. "Get him!"

"No!" Sam lunged at her knocking her down and the skull rolled out of her hands. Sam grabbed her shoulders and pinned her down while she struggled beneath him. He found her bony body hard to hold onto and he gripped tightly to her - but he wasn't expecting her to snap her head back and hit him in the nose. His eyes teared up and he dropped her instantly, he felt her wiggle free but he couldn't see her through the water in his eyes.

"Horseman!" Callie screamed again.

And then there was a horrific scream that could only be made by a horse. Sam blinked his eyes clear and turned just in time to see Ranger's front hooves leave the ground as he reared. Dean, unexpecting the sudden move, fell off the back, his head hitting the ground with a resounding crack that made Sam go numb with fear. Dean didn't move, he lay perfectly still, his face suddenly very calm. Callie stood a few inches away from Ranger's flailing front hooves, the skull held aloft in her hand. She turned in shock and was staring up at the horse in surprise. Ranger's left front hoof struck her shoulder and Sam heard a deafening crack and then Callie shrieked in pain as the skull fell from her hand and she fell to her knees clutching at her broken shoulder. Sam wasted no time he lunged forward and his searching hand clasped onto the skull. He felt a slight tingling running from the skull into his hand then and realized that Callie's little speech to him about returning the horseman's head to him was just a hoax - he could stop the horseman once and for all.

"Horseman!" Sam said rising to his feet the head held out in front of him so the horseman could see.

The big black mount that the horseman was riding snorted loudly, his red eyes watching Sam wearily. The horseman pause then slid the axe into his belt and held up his hand, as if waiting for Sam to throw it to him. Sam did and the horseman caught it easily. He set the aged skull onto his empty collar and twisted it a little until Sam heard a definite snap, and he was almost positive that the horseman had broken his neck in his attempt to reattach his head to his body, but to his surprise the head didn't roll away. Instead the horseman's head turned without the assistance of his hands and while Sam watched the skull began to repair itself and then the muscles, tissue, cartilage, blood, skin and hair began to take shape around the horseman's head again. It only took a few seconds, and Sam stood frozen in shock as he looked up into the electric blue eyes while the horseman stared at him coldly.

The horseman turned slowly away from him and stared at Dean's limp body still crumpled on the ground behind Ranger. Ranger's ears flattened and he stomped one hoof wearily as the horseman looked at him. The horseman then dismounted his horse, and patted the black steed warmly on the neck. The horse snorted and shook his head, his long black mane flopping messily over either side of his beautifully muscled neck. The horseman walked slowly towards Sam, eyeing him with an almost intense curiosity that made Sam wonder if the horseman was going to try and take him next after all. But then to Sam's utter astonishment the horseman passed him and walked over to where Jesse was still lying on the ground, completely limp and unconscious. The horseman stared at him for a long moment then before Sam could even blink he swung his sword and Jesse's head rolled away from his body. The horseman grabbed it by the hair and placed it into the pouch that he had tied to his belt.

Callie screamed and tried to stand but the pain in her shoulder was obviously making her unable to do more than sit there and hold it. The horseman walked slowly towards her as if enjoying her discomfort. Then he leaned down and grabbed her by the good arm and hauled her up. Callie's legs gave out from underneath her and the horseman ended up dragging him towards his horse. Callie cried and screamed the whole way but could do nothing more to stop him from taking her. The horseman never released her arm while he mounted and then he dragged her up onto the saddle in front of him. Callie's eyes were large and wet, her face frozen in horror as the horseman smiled at her, revealing slightly sharpened and pointed teeth. She screamed again as he bent closer to her, pressing his lips to hers and even though she tried to get him off Sam saw that there was no way she would be able to get him off of her against his will. Dark red blood began to trickle way from Callie's lips and Sam closed his eyes and turned his head away.

"Yah!" The horseman cried out a few seconds later and the black horse jumped forward again carrying his two passengers back towards the dead tree. Callie's loud sobs could be heard over the pounding of the horse's hooves. As the horseman approached the tree the roots opened up and the black horse jumped, disappearing into the earth taking his riders with him. As the roots closed up again Sam saw something moving feebly amongst the uplifted roots. A hand. It twitched for a few seconds and then was still.

* * *

"So they just disappeared into the tree roots?" Dean asked his eyebrows raised a little in disbelief.

"Yeah, just like in the movie."

"That's so cool," Dean said his trademark grin spreading across his face.

Sam frowned at his brother and shifted a little uncomfortably on the hard plastic hospital chair.

Dean had been unconscious for almost three days after his fall and the doctors had been worried about brain swelling, but thankfully Dean had pulled through with nothing more than a nasty bump on the head, a deep cut on his temple which had already been stitched, and while the branch that had impaled Dean's leg had been serious it hadn't broken Dean's leg. A few muscles had been torn and Dean wasn't allowed to drive for three weeks and he had to use crutches until the leg had completely healed, but the doctors didn't think there was any permanent damage.

Sam's cuts were mostly superficial - he'd only needed a splint for a couple of broken bones in his right hand, Dean had beamed at him when he told him he'd broken a few knuckles when he'd hit Jesse so hard in the face that he'd actually heard the bones break. Sam had had a hard time trying to come up with a story that he could tell Jean and Randy, but as usual, he'd managed to pull it off. Jean and Randy were devastated by the loss of their son and Stephen was mourning his ex-girlfriend, although he'd suspected that she was seeing someone else behind his back.

"Dean," Sam finally said looking at his brother meaningfully.

"Well it is, Sam," Dean said shrugging his shoulders.

Sam shook his head and looked down at the bed sheets, glaring at the light blue blanket that had been pulled up over Dean's legs.

"You couldn't have saved them, Sam," Dean said quietly.

Sam looked up at him, his eyebrows raised in surprise. "What?"

Dean gave Sam a meaningful look this time and his eyes narrowed a little as if piercing right through his brother. "You couldn't have saved them, Sammy. From the moment they bound the horseman to them they sealed their fates."

"I know that," Sam said looking down at his hands.

"Then what is it?"

Sam sighed and bit his lip. He wasn't really sure if he wanted to tell his brother this. Would Dean look at him different if he did?

"Sammy?" Dean pressed.

"I know that I couldn't save them, Dean," Sam admitted still not looking at his brother. "But the truth is - I'm not sure if I would've really wanted to save them anyway."

"What?"

Sam's fingers entwined themselves and he stared at them with a fierce determination. "With what they'd done to all those people, what they tried to do to you - I didn't want to let them live. I didn't want them to be able to hurt anyone else."

"Sam, you don't really mean..."

"Yeah I do, Dean!" Sam said his head snapping up and he glared at his brother his jaw set. "I wanted them to die - wanted them to suffer as much as they'd made everyone else suffer. I was glad the horseman took them."

Dean bit his lip as he looked at his brother, his eyes darting back and forth between Sam's eyes, curiously staring at him. Sam's eyes stayed fixed on Dean's forehead and a muscle in his jaw twitched but Dean saw the truth in his eyes.

"What did you tell Jean?" Dean finally asked.

Sam shrugged. "The only thing I could think of. That you had gone off on Ranger and I'd gone after you - that we didn't see the killer. The police are combing the woods for some psycho with an axe now."

"What about the tree?"

"Burned, the horseman won't be coming back this time, Dean."

Dean nodded. "You did good, Sammy."

"Dean," Sam said quietly his voice shaking a little. "You know when Ranger brought you back and he reared up at Callie and you fell - you were so still. I thought I'd lost you - I was so scared."

"Hey it's gonna take more than some old horse to kill me, Sammy," Dean said grinning.

Sam managed to give Dean a half smile back.

"Hey, Sam?"

"Hmm?"

"How is he anyway?"

"Who?" Sam asked completely baffled.

"Ranger."

"Oh, he's fine, Dean. His left leg is pretty skinned up and he's gone lame but Randy thinks he'll heal just fine. He'll be resting up in his stall for a few weeks but something tells me he won't mind the time off." Sam grinned and Dean smiled back at him. "Jean came by after you were asleep last night, said that Ranger keeps looking for you."

"He saved my life, Sam. He came back for me."

Sam frowned. "What do you mean?"

"When the horseman came after me the first time I fell - that was when the branch got stuck in my leg. I couldn't walk and the pain was so intense I could hardly breathe. I thought that this was it - that the horseman was going to get me, I heard the hooves coming back and I couldn't do anything to protect myself, I was helpless. And then Ranger was there, and he got down onto the ground in front of me so I could get back on - when I did he took me back to you."

"That horse must love you, Dean. He could've gone back to the barn where he'd be safe but he wanted to make sure you were safe too. And back at the camp he was the one who knocked the skull out of Callie's hand - I wouldn't have gotten it in time to save you if he hadn't. I think he was trying to protect you."

"But why? We haven't even been here a week, Sam. Why would he risk his own life to save mine?"

"Love is never rational, Dean, it just is."

A soft knock at the door had Dean snapping his mouth closed, stopping him from saying whatever it was that he was going to say to that.

"Hey there," a warm voice greeted them. The tall dark skinned man with curly black hair and ultra white teeth stepped into the room. "How are we feeling this afternoon?"

"Great," Dean answered at once. "Good as new."

"Well I'm glad to hear that," Dr. Jones grinned at Dean.

"Just one question, Doc," Dean said with a grin Sam knew all too well.

"What's that?"

"When can I get out of here?"

* * *

"You sure you boys don't want to stay out the rest of the week?" Jean asked although she didn't try to sound too persuasive. Sam knew she and Randy were making funeral arrangements for Jesse.

Sam shook his head as he tossed the last duffel bag into the trunk. "No, but thank you, Jean. I know you guys have enough to worry about without guests complicating things."

Jean nodded and a few fresh tears trickled down her face. She wiped them away impatiently and sniffed loudly. "Well you boys be safe then."

Sam nodded and gave her a tight lipped smile as he closed the trunk.

"Is Dean still inside?" Jean asked.

Sam frowned a little - he'd actual thought that Dean had been out in the car when he'd been zipping up the last duffel to bring out, but he'd been surprised to see that the impala was empty and Dean was no where in sight when Sam had left their cabin. "I'm not sure where he is actually. I haven't seen him since he left the cabin."

Jean's eyes went wide with worry. "You don't think he's missing do you?"

Sam shook his head. "No I'm sure he's around here somewhere, I'll find him."

Then he turned and jogged off towards the barn, he had a feeling he'd find Dean in there.

The lights were dim inside the barn and the doors were open letting in an unusual for this time of year warm breeze. Sam jogged down the main aisle, passing several curious horses who poked their heads out of their stalls and nickered at him as if expecting a treat. As Sam turned the corner he came to an abrupt stop. Dean was standing outside of Ranger's stall, rubbing the black and white head gently and talking to the horse quietly while feeding him a few bits of carrot and apple slices. Ranger took each treat he was offered with his lips and crunched them loudly before bobbing his head and nickering, his ears swiveling forward on his head, eager for more. Dean handed him the last bit of carrot and stroked the horse's cheek softly. Ranger nickered quietly and then with a final pat Dean dropped his hand, gathered up the crutches he'd leaned up against the wall of the stall and turned, he stared at Sam for a minute, just as surprised to see Sam there as Sam was to see Dean there.

"Sam," Dean said his face going a little red. "What are you doing here?"

"I was looking for you. Thought you'd be out by the impala."

Dean looked at Ranger once more and then shook his head. "No, just saying good bye to a friend."

Ranger watched Dean go, his head high and his ears swiveling a little. He then lifted his nose into the air and whinnied loudly. Dean turned back and waved once then followed Sam out of the barn slowly, trying to suppress the winces with each step and pretending not to hear the sounds of Ranger calling continuously after him.

"Well, Sam," Dean said casually as he sat in the passenger seat with a sigh. Sam took Dean's crutches from him and put them in the backseat. "Another one bites the dust huh?"

"Looks like it," Sam said grinning as he waved at Jean and Randy who watched them from the back porch.

Just then Jack trotted around the corner of the house with Priestly right on his heels, yapping at him the whole time. Jack held a big bone in his mouth, it was covered in dirt, probably something he'd buried a long time ago and had now proudly retrieved for his own personal pleasure. Priestly seemed determined to have it for his own and kept nipping at the larger dog's legs, biting at him furiously but Jack ignored the little dog nipping him. His stubby tail wagged furiously when he saw Jean and Randy on the porch and he hurried up the stairs to join them. Priestly sat at the bottom of the stairs and growled up at Jack, the sound slightly amusing coming from such a little dog. When Priestly spotted Sam outside of the impala he stood up, the hackles on his back raising and he began to bark furiously at him, his little body rigid with his intensity.

"Bye to you too, Priestly," Dean muttered as Sam slid in behind the wheel and closed the door. The engine started up with a loud familiar throaty growl. Dean sighed and leaned his head back against the back of the seat while the thrums of Metallica's _Some Kind of Monster _beat through the speakers.

Sam waved to Jean and Randy one last time then swung the car out and headed down the drive. He grinned a little when Dean closed his eyes a smile playing across his face. This hunt hadn't been the easiest one they'd ever gone on, not the hardest either but it had had times that Sam wasn't sure if he would've made it. If he had lost his brother, if the horseman had collected him Sam would've gladly given himself over to the horseman to be collected himself.

But to be here, to hear the thrums of one of his brother's favorite bands, to see Dean so relaxed and comfortable and very much alive on the seat next to him made Sam realize that it had all been worth it. As they reached the end of the drive and turned onto the main road Sam's foot went down harder on the gas and the car jumped forward with a burst of speed that made Dean chuckle a little. They headed off for the highway, in hopes of a little recovery and down time before their next hunt.

The End.


End file.
